By 

JOSIAH GROUT 




THE GROUT COAT OF ARMS 

CONFIRMED TO 

SIR RICHARD GROUT 

1587 
BY Queen Elizabeth 



MEMOIR 

GEN'L WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

and 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

JOSIAH GROUT 



THE BULLOCK PRESS, NEWPORT, VKRMONT 
1919 



Ef67 






TO THE MEMORY OF 

PARENTS, GRAND PARENTS, 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 

3ofiiah (Srnut 




GENERAL WILLIAM W. GROUT 

1836 — 1902 

18 YEARS IN CONGRESS 

L. L. D. NORWICH UNIVERSITY 



FOREWORD 

It seems strange that I am making a book. Time 
was when I had great respect for books; but they now 
exist in such numbers that respect has given way to 
wonder. 

When a book or two fitted for the University of Na- 
ture; and a few books graduated many of our greatest 
men from that institution; books stood for something. 
Now they are so numerous; and some so frivolous, that 
their value is an open question. 

I am not expecting to produce a book of any partic- 
ular value; yet I would put the acts and deeds of certain 
members of my family on record for future observation. 

William Wallace Grout lived a life and rendered a 
service deserving something more than a mere mention; 
and to give his life the prominence I feel it deserves is a 
part of my purpose. 

My respected and honored parents and grandpar- 
ents acted such a part in the drama of life, as to deserve 
a record that may be read and considered of men. 

Their lives were so exemplary in many interesting 
respects that an important lesson may be drawn from a 
contrast between their time and the haste and waste of 
now. 

I wish also to put what I have done in my lifetime 
in form for criticism; and shall say something about the 
Grouts in general, so that their ancestry may be 
better known. 

What appears in this book will be intended to make 
clearer the lives of those considered; and it is expected 
the book will be quite Grouty. 

Without malevolence or any kindred spirit, if, per- 
chance, provocation suggests, and the truth as well be 
told, there will be linings and scorings; and if so, there 
will be hewings, regardless of where the chips may fly. 

Sincerely, 

JosiAH Grout. 



CENTURY POEM 

BY HARRIET H. GROUT (MRS. JOSIAH ) 

READ AT THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 
BY AARON H. GROUT 

1799-1899 

Grand Old Century! thy race is run; 

We greet thee here; thy victories won. 

Oh! one hundred years of smiles and teari. 

Oh Century Grand! we ask today; 

That thou wilt turn back and mark the way 

Which brought thee here through many a year, 

To this nineteen hundred border land, 

With progress seen on every hand; 

Unknown before in the days of yore. 

Thou lookest upon the heavens clear; 

The same that greeted thy natal year; 

The mountains grand, the sea. and the land. 

The same good, kind Father rules above; 

We feel the power of hate and love. 

And just laws abide, what'ere betide. 

Oh one hundred years! what hast thou done? 

To thus mark thy course beneath the sun, 

And to bring thee here without a peer. 

All ages marvel at this, thy race: 

Thou standest alone, nor time nor space 

Can tell of thee. Oh thou Century! 

Nor what heights, what depths, the human soul 

May yet reach as on the ages roll; 

The infinite plan, wrought out by man. 

Steamer and warship on ocean ride. 

And the iron horses heavy stride 

Resounds this glorious world around. 



The hidden treasures of this great earth 
Are now daily, hourly given birth; 

While science and art have played their part. 

Stern, grim-visaged war has found in thee 

Peace arbitrament. Oh Century! 

And wrongs redressed for all the oppressed. 

Cables arc laid the ocean wide. 

Electric bands on every side 

Bring converse sweet, as when dear friends meet. 

Though many a milestone marks the way. 

That separates our dear homes today; 

A broken band from every land. 

We gather here; and sweet tribute pay 

To kind fate that brought us on the way. 

And gave us to see this century. 

Our fathers cleared the forests here. 

Primitive ways with homely cheer 

Well satisfied then, those brave yeomen. 

They brooked not what the end might be, 

Or to what height their family tree 

Might rear its head, with wide branches spread. 

We bow our heads for their blessings here: 

And how tenderly we all revere 

The Sir Richard Grout, we've heard about. 

From little acorns the tall oaks grow. 

Wide rivers from little streamlets flow. 

Broad fields here, where forests did appear. 

Palatial homes on every hand. 

Fine churches and schools throughout the land 

Are here to greet thee, thou Century. 

Let not your hearts be troubled then. 

Divinity passeth human ken; 

And what is to be, shall surely be. 

There is no soul that is given birth. 

But serves a purpose upon the earth; 

And our God is love and rules above. 

One star differcth from another star. 

Both shine in the firmament afar. 

So beyond death's sea shall our souls be. 

When born again to our homes above. 

Where all is happiness, joy, and love. 

An eternity of ecstacy. 



THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 

1799-1899 

In 1799, ten years after the United States began un- 
der the Constitution, Theophilus Grout wended his way 
along the Connecticut, Passumpsic and Moose Rivers 
from Charlestown, New Hampshire, to the present site 
of the Grout farm in the Town of Kirby, Caledonia 
County, State of Vermont. 

Here, miles remote from any other settler, without 
roads save of his own making, he made a pitch and a 
home, which remaineth. 

In the years following, the ampitheatre of hill and 
valley, constituting the noble old farm, greeted seed 
time and welcomed harvest, as the giant wilderness 
from year to year gave way before the chopper's axe. 

This sturdy ancestor was a pioneer of the roads, 
schools, churches, and all other emblems of civilization 
for that region; and as its hills and valleys resounded 
and teemed with the hum of life, its people multiplied, 
its landscape beautified, and the fields became the farm 
homes of today. 

In 1899, General Grout, then owning and occupying 
the farm, made a Centennial celebration, in honor of his 
stalwart ancestor; and there on the old farm, in large 
tents arranged for the purpose, welcomed guests from 
the family, the neighborhood, the state and the nation. 
It was a grand affair, crowded to overflowing; and was 
made doubly interesting by literary and other exercises 
suited to the occasion. 

I here give some features of the program of that oc- 
casion hoping they may be alike interesting and instruct- 
ive: 

8 



THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 

BY WILLIAM W. GROUT 

"Ladies and gentlemen: It is with great pleasure 
that I welcome you one and all here today; not only 
those of the tribe but the neighbors and friends who 
honor alike the family and the occasion with their pres- 
ence. 

"This gathering of the descendants of Theophilus 
Grout takes us back to the time when this whole region 
was an unbroken wilderness. Let the mind take in the 
fact, if it will, that when Theophilus Grout pitched his 
camp here on the banks of the Moose River there was 
no clearing nearer than the one at St. Johnsbury, made 
in 1786, just below the railway station. There was one 
on the Connecticut River in Concord made the same 
year, and one in Lunenburg, also on the Connecticut 
made about 1770. There was also a settlement on the 
Butler Meadow just south of St. Johnsbury Center made 
the same year as that below the St. Johnsbury station, 
and one at Lyndon made by Daniel Cahoon in 1788 on 
the old Cahoon place now owned by E. H. Hoffman. 
These were the nearest settlements and were from six 
to sixteen miles distant; and, as will be seen, all of them 
on the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers. The first 
settlers all moved along the streams making them avail- 
able as highways by means of fiat boats until roads 
could be operated through the forests. After the man- 
ner of these early settlers Phineas Page and Theophilus 
Grout pushed their way up the Moose River, the latter 
to this point and the former to the first farm south on 
the river and made the first settlements in the Town of 
Kirby; and Thompson in his history of Vermont says 
this was about the year 1799. In Mrs. Henniway's Ga- 
zeteer, Charles H. Graves, long a resident and long the 

9 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Clerk of the Town of Kirby, says this opening was made 
in 1792, and Childs in his history of Caledonia, Orleans, 
Essex and Lamoille Counties uses the date given by Mr. 
Graves. The writer, however, is satisfied that the date 
given by Thompson is the correct one but whichever be 
right certain it is that a full hundred years have elapsed 
since the forest primeval, as here it stood, began to yield 
to the levelling axe of the home maker. Here a hun- 
dred years ago Theophilus Grout, with the wild beasts 
for neighbors, put up a log house, brought in his family 
and settled himself in life; and here out of the wilderness 
he carved a home to which his descendants still cling 
with pride and affection, which is the greater from the 
fact that during all this time the ownership of it has not 
been out of the family. Theophilus Grout deeded to his 
son, Josiah, in 1848 and Josiah to George W., his son and 
George 0. Ford, his son-in-law, in 1865 through whom 
the title came in 1874 to William W., eldest son of Josiah 
and the present owner; who has now held it just an even 
twenty-five years or one-fourth of the time. Thus do 
we see that during the hundred years since Theophilus 
struck the first blow three generations of the family 
have held the ownership and participated in bringing 
the farm and home to its present condition. The first 
cleared away the forest; the second cleaned off the 
stumps and stone, and commenced the work of smooth- 
ing; the tnird finished the smoothing, drained the wet 
places, and reorganized, enlarged and modernized the 
buildings, so that at the end of this first hundred years it 
would seem but little is left for coming generations but 
to fertilize, plant, sow and gather the harvest. 



10 



THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 



DWELLING HOUSES 

"There have been four houses built on the farm, 
First the log house, second a frame house with additions, 
third a farm house, both of these standing in the field 
northeast of the present buildings and both removed by 
the present owner; fourth the present dwelling built in 
1844, except the front part, which was added in 1888, the 
old part being turned half way round to receive it. 

grandmother's BATTLE WITH THE RATS 

"There was as one of the additions to the second 
frame house a back buttery and store room, 8 x 12, 
boarded inside and out with wide pine boards, some of 
them two and one-half feet wide from trees which grew 
below the road on the meadow. I mention this here be- 
cause of a tragedy enacted within it in which Grand- 
mother Grout, wife of Theophilus, was the central fig- 
ure. 

"On a Saturday night, as was the habit of the moth- 
ers in those days, she sat up late mending the children's 
clothes for the regular Sunday change, and long after 
the rest of the household were in slumber, hearing a 
noise in the back buttery, the meaning of which she well 
knew, she selected a stick of the right proportions from 
the pile of wood on the fireplace hearth, and taking a 
frock she was mending hastened to the conflict. She en- 
tered the buttery, closed the door, threw the frock over 
the rat hole and, instead of screaming for the men folks, 
with one hand gathered her skirts about her ankles and 
with the club in the other proceeded to make as clean 
work of the burglars as Dewey did of the Spanish fleet. 
She killed thirteen rats, great and small, some of them 
very large, which made a sharp fight as old rats will 
when cornered. She piled them up in a pyramid on the 

11 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Stone hearth for a surprise to her connubial lord when 
he should start the fire in the morning. 

"Some thirty-five or forty years ago this buttery was 
moved by Josiah Grout from the old house in the field 
and attached to the old part of the present house, and 
when it was rearranged in 1888 with the present new 
front, this old buttery seemed to call for preservation, 
and the broad pine boards which looked down upon the 
battle with the rats now constitute the ceilings of the 
present back buttery and are silent witnesses alike to 
the big pines that once stood on the meadow and to the 
nerve of the women of a hundred years ago. 

GOOD LOCATION 

"It must be conceded that Theophilus Grout was 
fortunate in locating where he did, or he had an eye and 
judgment which told him when he had reached a tract 
of land that would make a good farm. Having been 
born and reared on a river farm in Charlestown, New 
Hampshire, and naturally preferring such a location he 
came up the Moose River until he reached this basin of 
land; and here drove his stake and here set up his house- 
hold gods, and here his descendants are still to be found. 
No one will pretend that the selection could have been 
better in the whole Moose River Valley. 

LARGE FAMILIES 

"Two good old-fashioned families have been reared 
on the farm, that of Theophilus consisting of eleven chil- 
dren, nine of whom became men and women, and that 
of Josiah consisting of ten children, all of whom grew to 
manhood and womanhood and all but two of whom are 
still living. But the third generation has, mostly, the reg- 
ulation American family of the present day, namely, one, 
two, or three and some have none at all. 

12 



THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 



"Notwithstanding this the living descendants of The- 
ophilus Grout are more numerous than at first would be 
thought. They number one hundred twenty-three and 
extend to the sixth generation including him. Two of 
his children are still living, namely, Nancy and Sophia, 
eighty-six and eighty-four respectively. There are twenty- 
two living grandchildren, fifty-three living great grand- 
children, forty living great, great grandchildren and 
three living great, great, great grandchildren. 

"Here we might well remember the heroic qualities 
of the men and women of a hundred years ago who sub- 
dued the forests, fought off the beasts of prey and the 
lurking savages, and established homes, and schools, and 
churches, and withal a government where liberty is 
regulated by law and where men have an equal chance 
in the race of life. 

BURIAL GROUND 

"In 1834 Daniel Grout, the youngest son of Theophi- 
lus, was shot and killed at Canaan while assisting his 
father, then collector of customs at that place, in arrest- 
ing a smuggler. His remains were brought home to the 
farm and deposited in a burying ground established to 
meet this emergency near the Concord line. Here sev- 
eral of the family were afterwards buried, including The- 
ophilus and Johanna, his wife, Betsey, their oldest child, 
and her husband, Daniel McGreggor, and George, their 
son; also Theophilus Junior and two daughters who died 
young; and later Sophronia, wife of Josiah, and a few 
other persons. 

"In the meantime the beautiful city of the dead, 
Grove Cemetery, was established and rapidly became the 
resting place of the weary in this whole region round 
about including one hundred six of our own blood. The 
subject what should be done with this old family bury- 

13 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ing ground was frequently up in the family and was not 
settled until the death of Josiah in 1874, when it was de- 
cided to bury him in Grove Cemetery and transfer the 
remains of the kindred from the old ground thereto, 
which has been done. And near the stately elm in the 
corner of this cemetery, from which is a beautiful view 
of the farm, including all the buildings, rest the ashes of 
Theophilus Grout, the hardy pioneer, and Johanna Wil- 
liard, his wife, who shared with him every hardship and 
danger in establishing a home here in the woods a hun- 
dred years ago. There also sleep Josiah and his wife, 
Sophronia, who, next to Theophilus and Johanna, toiled 
longest and hardest in bringing the old farm to the pres- 
ent state of cultivation. 

"Peace to the ashes of these our ancestors; they act- 
ed well their part in this mortal state and all died in the 
belief of a life beyond the grave. Let us, my friends, 
while we honor their memory, emulate their virtues. 
Let us, like them, be industrious and frugal; Hke them, 
neighborly, charitable and devout. Let us, in short, 
heed the admonition of the poet: 

'So live that when thy summons comes to join 

The innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm 

Where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death. 

Thou go not like the quarry slave at night scourged in his dungeon. 

But, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust. 

Approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.' " 



14 



GROUT GENEALOGY 

BY WILLIAM W. GROUT 

READ AT THE GROUT CENTENNIAL 
BY THEOPHILUS GROUT 3rD 

"In Vol. 1 of Morse's Genealogies of certain Puritan 
families may be found an extensive treatise on the origin 
of our family name which he traces through many 
changes and many countries from before the Christian 
era to the present day. On page 135 he says, 'Grout is 
not a Welch name, nor is it Irish or Scotch; and England 
is not to be regarded as its birth place. After a long, if 
not careful search, I have arrived at the conclusion that 
Grout, alias Groot and Gros, the parents of various mod- 
ern names, were originally identical and of continental 
origin, for they have the same literal meaning, viz: great, 
and seem to have originated in the same country and 
about the same age; and to have needed no other varia- 
tion from a common orthography than was required by 
the different dialects that sprung up in ancient Germany, 
where the original name must have previously spread. 
Fifty-three years B. C., Caesar reported among the war- 
like and daring tribes of Belgic Gaul the Grudii, which 
signifies the great, a name easily derived from form and 
stature or martial exploits. Such of their warriors as 
survived the terrible defeat by the Romans must have re- 
treated north, and no doubt joined the indomitable tribes 
of Germany, then including the Netherlands, carrying 
their name with them, and defying the further progress 
of Roman arms in this direction. Here they naturally 
became incorporated with the Gothic tribes, in whose 

15 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

subsequent dialects their name appears variously spell- 
ed. In central Germany it became Grote, from whence, 
out of an ancient family, came, about 1740, the ancestor 
of the distinguished Grotes of London, one of whom is 
presumed to be the author of that masterpiece of histor- 
ical Hterature, "The History of Greece." In northern Ger- 
many in the Saxon and German dialects it became Gros, 
from which have sprung Gross, and Growse in England, 
and Graus in Prussia, which latter name is the inventor 
of the magnetic telegraph, if a discovery of an age, to 
which thirty minds contributed can be called the inven- 
tion of one man. In other countries the name received 
a prefix. 

'Such of the Grudii as were forced to take the Ro- 
man yoke were suffered to occupy their country in Flan- 
ders; and reported later as "DeGroude." Here, as the 
Dutch and Belgic dialects were formed, De was placed 
before the name, to denote one of the Grudii, the usual 
sound of u expressed by oo in Dutch and ou in Belgic 
and French, the d changed into t, and the Latin termina- 
tion rejected; and thus originated the name of DeGroot, 
now common with little variation in Belgium, France 
and Holland; a name which the ancestors of Hugo De- 
Groot, (Grocius) who was born in 1583 had borne for 
many ages.' 

From this it will be seen that the name is very clear- 
ly of continental origin and the question at once arises, 
'How came it in England from whence it afterwards 
came to this country?' 

"Mr. Morse says it was supposed to have been 
brought over by the Flemish weavers in the reign of 
Henry II, 1548; and after saying in a note, that Josiah 
Grote's house was probably built on the northern extrem- 
ity of Scotland by a John DeGroot, a fisherman from 

16 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



Holland; and after speaking of Will Grote, Senior, being 
in Parliament from Cornwall in 1513 in the House of 
Lords of which Parliament was then constituted, the 
king being an acting member; and after referring to the 
knighting of Richard Groot of Walton, in the County of 
Derby, in 1587; and to Sir Joseph Grout of Hackney, 
County of Middlesex, and of George Groute, late member 
of Parliament for London, as all being only variations of 
the same name; he then gives as the result of his resear- 
ches, that Capt. John Grout of Watertown and Sudbury 
in 1640, from whom the New England Grouts are de- 
scended and his brother William Grout of Charlestown 
in 1665, who afterwards settled in New Jersey, were the sons 
or grandsons of Sir Richard Groutte above referred to; and 
in support of this view he gives among other things the 
following reasons: 

'First: That the arms confirmed to Richard Groutt, 
Esq., of Walton in the County of Derby, the 28th of May, 
1587 and in the twentieth year of the reign of Elizabeth, 
namely: Azure on a bend or between two mullets ar- 
gent; three leopard faces gules, have been in the family 
from the first generation, who arrived in New England; 
and have descended with the gun that was brought over, 
from Capt. John Grout of Sudbury to his son, Jonathan, 
the inheritor of his homestead and executor of his will, 
who left them to his widow, who left them to her only 
surviving son, John, Esq. of Lunenburg, who left the gun 
to his son, Hilkiah, and the arms to another; from whom 
Col. Jonathan Grout of Petersham obtained them, after 
expressing fears that they were lost and offering his 
nephew in New Hampshire a reward if he found them. 

'Second: Capt. John Grout was brought to this coun- 
try in his youth and he informs us that he was well ac- 
quainted with Gov. Winthrop from the time he came in- 

17 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

to the country, implying that on his arrival he was intro- 
duced and that an acquaintance then commenced, a very 
probable occurrence if his father was a man of quality 
and he the grandson of an English Knight, but rather im- 
probable considering his youth and the manner of those 
times, if he had none of the claims of rank.' 

"Mr. Morse's ground for saying that Capt. Grout in- 
forms us that he was well acquainted with Gov. Win- 
throp is evidently an affidavit made by him in 1684 con- 
cerning the conveyance to Gov. Winthrop of certain 
lands by Tacomus, an Indian Chief, in which he said he 
was well acquainted with Gov. Winthrop who employed 
Steven Day of Watertown and William Knapp of Cam- 
bridge and himself to go with the written deed and take 
the conveyance and delivery of the land which the affi- 
davit says was done as follows: 

'The ceremony Tacomus used in signing said deed 
was viz: he caused his eldest son to lye or kneele down 
on the ground and himself made his mark or sign on the 
deed upon his son's back and then he put himself in the 
same posture and caused his said son to sign the same 
deed upon his back and also caused his other sons suc- 
cessively to do the like upon one anothers' backs, the 
meaning whereof the deponent understood was that none 
of them might have any pretence of right by succession 
to disturb or molest the said Mr. Winthrop or his children. 

JOHN GROUT, FIRST GENERATION 

"This first ancestor of ours on this continent was 
evidently a man of large influence in his time. He was 
in command of the militia of Sudbury when that town 
was attacked by five hundred Indians on the morning of 
April 29, 1666 but they were repulsed by the inhabitants 
under captain, then Ensign, Grout and driven beyond the 

18 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



Concord River but not until after several houses were 
burned. On page 140 Mr. Morse copies from an old re- 
cord: 'Ensign Grout was courageous in repelling these 
attacks. After this he was made captain, the rank in the 
colonies that corresponded to that of knighthood in Eng- 
land.' 

"October 7, 1662 he was granted permission by the 
Court of Sessions to practice the mystery of chirurgery, 
(surgery) which attests his intelligence and culture. 

"On page 140 Morse says, 'Capt. Grout, like a legi- 
timate son of an English Knight was of a military turn. 
He had probably served in 1637 as a soldier in the Pequod 
War, and taken lessons of his neighbor. Prof . Cakebread. 
These qualified him for the post to which, on a sudden, 
he was evidently called, and in which he rendered ser- 
vices worthy of grateful commemoration.' 

"Capt. Grout was a worthy and prominent man, and 
of commanding influence in managing town affairs. Be- 
sides the care of the militia of Sudbury for nearly forty 
years, he served the town thirty years as selectman and 
seven years as town clerk; and from the frequency of his 
appearance as a witness on various trials before the 
Court of Sessions it is evident that his testimony was 
highly valued. 

JONATHAN GROUT, SECOND GENERATION 

"The first ancestor had four daughters and three 
sons, viz: John, Joseph, and Jonathan; and Mr. Morse 
gives the descendants of these three sons in three sepa- 
rate chapters. Our family descended from Jonathan of 
the second generation who settled in Sudbury upon the 
Dr. John Grout homestead. He had three sons. John, Jo- 
siah and Peter. 

19 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 
JOHN GROUT, THIRD GENERATION 

'John, Esq., is presumed in early life to have receiv- 
ed a classical education, but did not graduate. He must 
have been a man of superior natural talents. He studied 
law and during the latter half of his life if not before 
transacted business as an attorney. 

'He had at Lunenburg thirteen children named as 
follows: Hilkiah, Johanna, John, Elijah, Joel, Jonathan, 
Sarah, Patience, Peter, Abigail, Josiah, Solomon, and Je- 
hoshaphat.' 

"Elijah, the fourth child, was the father of Theophi- 
lus who opened to the light of civilization the tract of 
land known as the Grout Farm. 

ELIJAH GROUT, FOURTH GENERATION 

"Of Elijah Grout Morse says on page 169: 'Elijah, 
Esq., settled about 1766 upon a rich interval on the Con- 
necticut River in Charlestown, New Hampshire; served 
the town in various offices, was Justice of the Peace, and, 
in the Revolutionary War, Commissary to the Army.' 

"As giving a fuller view of the man the following is 
taken from the History of Charlestown, N. H. by Rev. 
Henry Saunderson: 'Elijah Grout probably did not re- 
move with his family from Lunenburg to Charlestown be- 
fore the year 1766. His name appears on the town re- 
cords the first time in 1768 when he was elected second 
selectman which office he filled, in all, six times. He was 
third selectman in 1769 and first in 1794. He was also 
three times moderator and five times representative. 
The first time in 1775, the last in 1795 but two years pre- 
vious to his death. 

'In the Revolutionary War he threw all his energies 
into the cause of independence and became known for 
his patriotism, not only in Charlestown and the immedi- 

20 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



ate region, but widely throughout the State. His first 
appearance as an actor in the Revolutionary movement 
was at a convention at Walpole at the house of Capt. 
John Bellows. To this he was elected by the citizens of 
•Charlestovvn on the 24th of October, 1774, in connection 
with Lieut. Samuel Hunt. They were chosen to meet 
and consult with other delegates or committees from the 
several towns in the county. 

'The meeting at the house of Captain Bellows was 
to see if the towns of Cheshire County would send dele- 
gates or deputies to the convention at Exeter as had been 
recommended by the Committee of Correspondents. It 
was decided that they would. Accordingly, at a town 
meeting held on the 18th day of Jan. 1775, in Charles- 
town, notified particularly to take action in the matter 
we find that the following votes were passed: 1st it voted 
that Benjamin Giles, Esq., be moderator of this meet^ 
ing; 2nd, voted that the town will proceed to choose a 
deputy to represent them at Exeter on the 25th instant; 
3rd, voted that Elijah Grout be the person to represent 
said Charlestown at Exeter the 25th instant in order to 
choose the delegates to send to the general Congress to 
be holden at Philadelphia in May next; 4th, voted that 
Mr. Elijah Grout be empowered to act in concert with 
the other deputies of this province when met to choose a 
committee of their body to proportion the sum each town 
ought to pay towards sending delegates, as expressed in 
the above vote. 

'From the time of his election as deputy to Exeter 
during the whole period of the war Mr. Grout was much 
relied upon for counsel by his own townsmen and by 
those who were appointed by the people to give direc- 
tion to affairs and execute important trusts. On the 7th 
day of August 1775 he was appointed one of the commit- 

21 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 



tee of safety for the Town of Charlestown. The others- 
were Samuel Hunt, Wilham Hay ward, Abel Walker, and 
Samuel Stevens, Esqs. 

'Here it may be well to call attention to the fact that 
at Charlestown, N. H. was early established a fort. No. 4^ 
past which went across the Connecticut River and over 
the Green Mountains the road from southern New 
Hampshire to south western Vermont. It was over this 
road that Stark led his army to Bennington. In fact a 
considerable portion of the rendezvous and organization 
was at Charlestown where Elijah Grout who had quite a 
time before been appointed Commissary by the New 
Hampshire Committee of Safety fitted it out for the 
march over the mountains.' 

"Saunderson in his history, page 721, gives place to 
some verses in which among other things are the follow- 
ing allusions to Stark's entrance into Charlestown and to 
Commissary Grout: 'He led them up the ancient street 
to where Elijah Grout and his fair daughters stood to 
deal the balls and powder out.' Continuing Mr. Saun- 
derson says, 'After the decease of his first wife, Mary 
Williard, Mr. Grout married in December 1786 Mrs. Ab- 
igail Hutchins, widow of Phineas Hutchins, whose chil- 
dren exactly equaled his own there being ten living in 
each family. They were married at Walpole by Rev. 
Fessenden. Mr, Grout had eleven children but Patty the 
youngest had died. 

"Did Mr. Grout after his second marriage ever have 
a family gathering? If so it must have been a spacious 
table at which the group sat down and the old Commis- 
sary must have been reminded of the times when he 
made provisions for the soldiers of Stark. He was a 
brave old man and good as he was brave. He withheld 
no endeavors and refused to make no sacrifices which 

22 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



the situation and circumstances of the country demand- 
ed for its best welfare. Though possessed of no great 
culture he was intelligent and farseeing and had all the 
qualities of a sterling man. His descendants may be 
proud in being able to trace their origin from such an an- 
cestor. 

JOHN GROUT, A BROTHER OF ELIJAH 

"All of Elijah's brothers were on the side of the Col- 
onies in the Revolutionary struggle except John, who 
was the first lawyer admitted to the Bar in Vermont and 
who was the only Tory in the family. He was district 
attorney for Cumberland County under authority of the 
State of New York, which naturally brought him to a 
misunderstanding with the people on the grants and 
may account for his continued loyalty to the Crown. At 
the close of the war to find congenial company he moved 
to Montreal where he died. 

JOEL GROUT, A BROTHER OF ELIJAH 

"Of Joel Grout, the next younger brother of Elijah, 
Mr. Morse in his Genealogy, page 171, says: 'Hon. Joel 
Grout resided in Templeton and also in Gerry which he 
was instrumental in erecting and naming in honor of his 
friend Elbridge Gerry. He was an officer in the Ameri- 
can Army and in the Battle of Bennington. In 1779 he 
was a member of the convention that framed the Con- 
stitution of Massachusetts and subsequently of the Gen- 
eral Court. He removed to Richmond, N. H., where he 
died in 1797. 

JONATHAN GROUT AND ABIGAIL GROUT 
BROTHER AND SISTER OF ELIJAH 

"Hon. Jonathan Grout, another brother, it seems 

23 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

was bearer of despatches in the French and Indian War. 
He afterwards settled in Petersham and became a law- 
yer, and Morse says, page 172: 'The master spirit of the 
community, and with his copatriot, Gen. Ward of the en- 
tire County of Worcester molding for successive genera- 
tions the political character of the neighborhood; and re- 
ceiving from them every office he would accept.' He 
was, with Caleb Strong, Elbridge Gerry, Fisher Ames, 
etc., a member of the First Congress under the Federal 
Constitution elected in 1789 from the Worcester dis- 
trict in Massachusetts, And here just a word about one 
of his sisters, Abigail, who married Colonel Nathan Hale 
who was made a prisoner of war in the disastrous battle 
of Hubbardton and died soon afterwards; but his wife at 
once took charge of his various business affairs conduct- 
ing several lawsuits to a successful issue and brought 
his complicated estate, to which she ministered, to an 
early settlement. 

"A contemporary says, 'Her writings on local and 
religious subjects were strong and clear.' She was a 
woman of great energy of character. Morse in his Gene- 
alogy says, 'Such was her anxiety for her husband 
while a prisoner of war on Long Island that she rode on 
horse back thirty miles and back in one day to secure 
the conveyance of a letter to him.' 

"She was the mother of Harry Hall, long Clerk of the 
County of Grange, who was the father of eighteen chil- 
dren, among whom was Thomas, Dr. Safford Eddy, Hon. 
Robert S., lawyer and representative in Congress, Rev. 
John G., and Hon. Matthew Hall, late Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of New York. Four of these boys were 
graduates of the University of Vermont. Their grand- 
mother was a stately, dignified woman, neatly but al- 
ways plainly dressed. In her last years she lived with her 

24 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



daughter in Chelsea, Vermont, who thought when company 
was present she was too plainly dressed and accordingly 
embroidered for her an apron which she presented to 
her saying it was for occasions when they had company. 
Very soon some ladies were present at tea and the old 
lady appeared as before in her old apron. After the 
company had left the daughter said, 'Mother, how 
could you have worn that old apron?' Her reply was, 
'My daughter, it was to mortify pride. There is need of 
it.' 

"Thus much about the brothers of Elijah Grout and 
his sister, and now a word about Theophilus Grout, the 
third son of Elijah, who brought the name into this part 
of the State. 

THEOPHILUS GROUT, FIFTH GENERATION 

"He was about thirty years old when he commenced 
clearing up the Grout farm. Indeed, the removal of the 
forest and bringing this tract of land under cultivation 
constituted his principal life work. Childs in his Gaze- 
teer says, page 224, 'He was honored by civil office, 
was, upon the organization of the town, its first repre- 
sentative, and was several times subsequently returned 
to the legislature; was for many years Justice of the 
Peace and at one time Collector of U. S. Revenue; but of 
far greater service was he to mankind in establishing 
here in the wilderness a home, and in rearing children 
who, in their turn, have performed their part, and near- 
ly all passed off the stage. He was a man of large in- 
fluence in neighborhood and town matters. This anec- 
dote is told of him. In a justice trial at St. Johnsbury 
East in which Edward A. Cahoon and Henry S. Bartlett 
were counsel he was on the stand as the principal wit- 
ness of the plaintiff. Bartlett, counsel for defendant, to 

25 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

show Grout's interest asked him in cross examination if 
he had not taken great interest in the dispute. He re- 
plied, 'No unusual interest.' The lawyer then asked 
him if he had not been to Lyndon to see Mr. Cahoon 
about the case and how many times he had been. 'Sev- 
eral times,' said Mr. Grout, 'but not every time wholly 
on this business.' 'How many times,' repeated the law- 
yer, 'on this business?' evidently trying to create the im- 
pression that the witness was not testifying frankly. 
Sometimes when in earnest or a little excited Mr. Grout 
stammered a trifle. The lawyer's manner started him 
and he said, 'Well, Mr. Bartlett, I went to see Mr. Ca- 
hoon t-twice, p-partly on this business and t-twice a p-pur- 
pose.' As the plaintiff had a just cause he recovered. 

"He was frank and straightforward in all his tran- 
sactions. His love of justice and fair play and his know- 
ledge of affairs made his advice and assistance valuable 
to those in trouble, and he was frequently consulted by 
such as were involved in legal controversies. He was a 
man of fine presence, of strong, erect frame and iron 
constitution. 

"In politics he was a Democrat. In religion he in- 
herited from his Puritan ancestors a devotional turn of 
mind and at one time was connected with the Baptist 
Church in Waterford, but later in life his views took a 
somewhat liberal turn. He was, until his death, a regu- 
lar attendant at church on Sunday and took a deep in- 
terest in every phase of theological discussion. He lived 
uprightly in the fear of God and in love with his neigh- 
bor. In early life he married Johanna Williard of Hart- 
land, Vermont, who, by him was the mother of eleven 
children, and who died at the age of eighty-one years. 
Theophilus Grout died April 5, 1852 at the age of eighty- 
four years in the full possession of his mental faculties. 

26 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



The text which sometime before his death he asked the 
minister to read from at his funeral was the prayer of 
the publican: 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' He 
gave the minister this text not because he feared for his 
fate in the other world but knowing the imperfections 
and mistakes of the very best of life, and having no pa- 
tience with the Pharisaical spirit of those who are so 
confident of their own salvation but are ready to send 
so many others to Hades, he felt that as the publican 
went down to his home justified he would go down to his 
grave with the same humility, the same confession of sin 
and the same prayer for mercy. In short he believed 
that in the Kingdom of God, as everywhere else, every 
one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

JOSIAH GROUT, SIXTH GENERATION 

"Josiah Grout, the sixth child of Theophilus, was 
born Oct. 20, 1805. He married Sept. 29, 1830 Sophronia, 
daughter of Carlton Ayer of St. Johnsbury who was a 
woman of superior mental and moral qualities, and af- 
ter living for a time at Canaan, Vermont he removed to 
Compton, Canada, whither his father-in-law had gone to 
reside. There he remained until 1848 when his older 
brother, Theophilus, who had been at home with the old 
folks, having died he returned to the old homestead, took 
title to it and spent the balance of his life upon it. 
While in Canada he did not renounce his allegiance to 
the United States and took no part in Canadian affairs, 
though he came near getting himself into trouble with 
the Canadian authorities by too freely expressing his 
sympathy with the Papineau rebellion of 1838. Reared 
a Democrat he remained such until 1854 when the Dem- 
ocratic Party repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 

27 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

which opened Kansas and Nebraska to the introduction 
of slavery. This was too much for his party fealty and 
with his pronounced anti-slavery convictions he natu- 
rally drifted into the Republican ranks where he was 
permanently settled by the War of the Rebellion. He 
cast his first Republican vote for Abraham Lincoln in 
1860. He was not, however, very active in politics but 
found greater satisfaction in the cultivation of his farm 
and the care of his family. 

"In fact, both father and mother took a great inter- 
est in the education of their children, and put forth 
every effort to keep them in school; first in the old Cas- 
tle school house and then at the academy. Mother was 
especially anxious for this and father frequently said he 
wanted, if possible, to give his boys a chance to get a 
living with less hard work than he had found necessary 
on his way through life. 

SOPHRONIA AYER GROUT 

"Certainly those who knew Sophronia, wife of Jo- 
siah Grout, would all agree that this biographical sketch 
of the family now on the old farm would be incomplete 
without some word set by itself about this superior 
woman. She was not only a model mother, carefully 
watching all her children, but was a woman of great en- 
ergy of character and of elevated tastes. With only the 
advantages of the district school of her day she was yet 
an excellent scholar always speaking correctly and writ- 
ing easily and well. 

"Her memory was remarkable. She could give all 
the rules in Grammar and Adams' Arithmetic, and could 
repeat Pope's Essay on Man from beginning to end; and 
frequently in her work would break out with striking 

28 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



passages. She was a great worker and long after neigh- 
boring families took to store clothes she clung to the 
wheel and loom. Until her children were all well grown 
she made everything they wore; for instance in the fall 
of 1852 William W., the eldest boy and present owner of 
the farm, went to the academy in Glover in a suit of 
clothes every part of which, including the cutting and 
fitting, was from the wool and the work of his mother. 
Nor did she stop with wool; flax also, broke and hatchel- 
ed by the father, was spun and woven into not only suits 
for the children but into finely figured fabrics as table 
cloths, napkins and towels. She was too busy at home 
to gossip about her neighbors and too charitable and just 
to speak of their faults. She lived the life of the Christ- 
ian mother always teaching her children faith, hope, and 
charity, and died as she had lived, trusting in her Savior. 
She was the daughter of Carlton Ayer and Sophia Mc- 
Mannus, who was the daughter of Patrick McMannus, a 
soldier surrendered by Burgoyne at Saratoga. He mar- 
ried a Miss Hutchinson of Randolph whose family con- 
nections we have never followed. Carlton Ayer was the 
son of Samuel Ayer who came from Ware, N. H. to St. 
Johnsbury and died there in 1807. Dr. Silas H. Ayer of 
Boston, grandson of Carlton through D. C. Ayer, and el- 
der brother of Sophronia, will give the Ayer Genealogy. 

THE WILLIARDS 

"Two of our family in the line of descent from Capt. 
John Grout, viz: Elijah of Charleston and Theophilus of 
Kirby, married women of the name of Williard. 

"Rev. Saunderson says, page 375, 'Elijah Grout mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Jonathan and Keziah White Wil- 
liard of Lunenburg, Mass., a descendant in the fourth 

29 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

generation of Major Simon Williard of Concord, Mass 
Just how Elijah's wife was descended from Major Simon 
Williard cannot here be stated but Johanna, wife of The- 
ophilus Grout, came through Lieut. Moses Williard of 
Charlestown who was killed by the Indians in 1756 and 
who waslthe father of Susan A. Johnson, who, with her 
sister Miriam and her husband and three small children, 
had been captured two years before by the Indians and 
carried to Canada. The next morning after the capture 
she gave birth to a child whom she called Elizabeth Cap- 
tive. The child lived and afterwards became the wife of 
Col. George Kimball of Charlestown. 

"Saunderson says that in 1787 Mrs. Johnson accom- 
panied by Elijah Grout and her daughter Elizabeth Cap- 
tive Kimball, made a journey into Vermont for the pur- 
pose of determining the place where Mrs. Kimball was 
born which was found, it being a large flat stone near a 
brook in the corner of the present town of Cavendish. 
Later she erected a stone to mark the place which still 
stands and on which, among other things, is this inscription, 
'If mothers should wander here they will drop a sympath- 
etic tear on her who in the how ling wilds was safe deliv- 
ered of a child.' Susan Johnson was the second child of 
Lieut. Moses Williard, his fourth child was James Nut- 
ting who mai'ried Abigail, daughter of Capt. Ephriam 
and Johanna Bellows Wetherby, and had nine children. 
The seventh was Johanna, the wife of Theophilus Grout. 
Her father was a Quaker and her children and grand- 
children recall many anecdotes concerning him which 
are found in Saunderson's History of Charlestown. 

"This brief sketch of the Williards shows the qual- 
ity of the family from which she came and to some ex- 
tent the traditions among which she was reared, all of 

30 



THE GROUT GENEALOGY 



which fitted her for the companionship of such a man as 
Theophilus and for her Hfe here in the woods. 

"We have had a ghmpse of her work in the histori- 
cal sketch of the family already submitted. Much more 
might be said and only to praise her but this paper has 
run to too great length and may well be closed with the 
eulogeum of the poet: 

'She was a perfect woman nobly planned. 
To warn, to comfort and to command.' 



31 



AVER GENEALOGY 

BY DR. SILAS H. AYER 

" 'When I received an invitation from my cousin to at- 
tend this family reunion, and at the same time to say some- 
thing regarding the genealogy of the Ayer family, I im- 
mediately sent my acceptance to both invitations. 

'To the first, because I was exceedingly glad to be 
present on such an occasion; to the second because it 
seemed to me to be nothing more than my duty to take 
upon myself the defence of a name, which, in the Ayer 
family, went out of existence when Sophronia Ayer gave 
her hand in marriage to Josiah Grout. 

'This indeed is a Grout reunion and certainly should 
be called such. Still, if we give it a moment's thought, 
it is perfectly evident to everyone present that practi- 
cally all the success of those who have sprung from this 
Grout homestead has been due to the Ayer blood cours- 
ing through their veins. 

'Of course, the Grout blood corpuscle has been roam- 
ing about hither and thither all these years, but what 
chance has it really had? Let us just look at things as 
they really are, as they must have been many years ago, 
and as they undoubtedly will be in the future. 

'Go with me back to the early days of this particular 
Grout family and in this particular neighborhood. Let 
us suppose that things are not very lively at this time 
hereabouts and a very small thing indeed attracting a 
great deal of attention. It is in the fall of the year, and 
a great race is about to take place, "A horse race?" did 

32 



THE AYER GENEALOGY 



somebody ask? "No." "A century run?" "No, some- 
thing more lasting than that." "Well, then, what is it?" 

There is about to start a great race for supremacy 
between the Ayer red blood corpuscle and the Grout red 
blood corpuscle; there were no blue blood corpuscles 
known in those days. They are due to leave the start- 
ing place, the heart, at a certain hour. The course is 
laid out through the arteries, across the capillaries, and 
back again through the veins to the starting point; then 
over the same ground again and again, and again and 
again, indeed, this is an endless race. Now, although 
I am not perfectly sure of my facts, still I have no 
hesitation in saying that when the race was about to 
begin, and crowds had assembled to witness the start-off, 
the Grout corpuscle, gallant and polite as he must have 
been, stepped forward, and gallantly surrendered the 
pole to his opponent of the gentler sex. There can be 
no doubt on this point, and yet this was a fatal mistake, 
for giving woman the pole, it matters not in what, she 
will come in first every time. Instances upon instances 
could be cited to prove this statement, but as every 
one here must immediately recall dozens and dozens of 
them, I will refrain. But I trust I have made it clear 
that the Grout corpuscle stood no show whatever when 
brought in competition with the Ayer corpuscle. Still, 
the Grout corpuscle did keep the name. 

'But after all, what's in a name? In this free coun- 
try where blood tells, it is simply one of those provisions 
of law, which has been handed down for years and years, 
that compels a woman to surrender her name when giv- 
ing her hand in marriage. Thus the point I am anxious 
to make clear is that, the name Ayer must come in for 
its full share of glory here today. 



33 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

'Although it was never my good fortune to see So- 
phronia Ayer, still, I have always heard her spoken of as 
a person of remarkable ability, keen foresight, and also 
as one perfectly able to carry out her ideas when once 
her mind was made up what to do. She was born 
at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, September 25, 1809, 
and died on this farm September 3, 1859. Her father 
was Carlton Ayer, born at Ware, New Hampshire in the 
year 1781 and died at Compton, P. Q. in April 1871. Her 
mother's name was Sophia McMannus. She was one of 
a family of ten children, the names of whichwere as fol- 
lows: Alanson, Carlos, Moses, Dan Jerome, John, So- 
phronia, Tirzah, Louisa, Roxanna, Harriet. Her grand- 
father was Samuel Ayer, born in the year 1735 and died 
in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1807. Her great grand- 
father was Simon Ayer born in 1709. Her great, great 
grandfather was Samuel Ayer, born at Haverhill Sep- 
tember 28, 1660. He was a man of influence in the com- 
munity in which he lived, acting in the year 1701 as rep- 
resentative. He died November 29, 1752. Her great, 
great, great grandfather was Peter Ayer of Haverhill, 
born in 1633, he was married in 1659 to one Hannah Al- 
len, also of Haverhill. He was a freeman in 1666, and 
also a representative for several years. He died Janu- 
ary 2, 1699 leaving nine children. And finally we reach 
back to her great, great, great, great grandfather, John 
Ayer, the original of the Ayer family in America, who 
came from England to this country in 1637. For a few 
years immediately after his arrival he sojourned at Salis- 
bury and Newbury, Mass. In 1646 he settled at Haver- 
hill where he became a land holder. He had nine chil- 
dren, some in manhood at this time. He died October 8, 
1688. John Ayer is mentioned by Mirrick as one of the 
thirty-two land holders of Haverhill in 1645. In 1700, 

34 



THE AYER GENEALOGY 



according to Mirrick, nearly one-third of the inhabitants 
of Haverhill were named Ayer. They were a fearless, 
athletic race of men, and were mostly cultivators of the 
soil. 

'Thus I have traced the connection between Sophro- 
nia Ayer and the original John Ayer of Haverhill. But 
before I close I wish to bring to your notice one thing 
more. Although I have been able to follow the name of 
Ayer back to the year 1637, 1 am now going to trace the 
name back to the year 1066, and in doing this I will sim- 
ply read to you a quotation taken from an old book of 
heraldry: 

"The first of the Ayer family was named True Love, 
but at the Battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066, William 
the Conqueror was flung from his horse and his helmet 
beaten into his face, which, amanby the name of True Love, 
observing, pulled off and horsed him again. The duke 
told him. Thou shalt hereafter from True Love be call- 
ed (Air), because thou hast given me the air to breathe. 
After the battle the duke on inquiry finding him severely 
wounded, (his leg and thigh having been struck off) 
ordered him the utmost care; and on his recovery gave 
him in reward for his services and the leg and thigh, an 
armor cut off from his crest." 

'And so, dear friends, my thanks to you for listening 
to my discourse through regarding the genealogical star 
pertaining to the name of Ayer; a name not heard much 
hereabout; it being quite o'ertopped by Grout, but still a 
name possessed by one until her heart by him was won; 
who, with her aid, and by which union made possible this 
Grout reunion. 

'Let us our mothers bear in mind. 

Do not forget their deeds so kind; 

Remembering that full half the fame 

Oft springs from those who change their names.' 

35 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 
REMARKS 

It seems from Morse, who was a great critic and stu- 
dent of genealogies the Grouts originated in Germany; 
and after their name was sufficiently groomed to go 
abroad it appeared in England doing things on its way to 
America; where though not very common and always 
happiest when busiest, it occupies a place upon the firing 
hne. 

Capt. John Grout, who came to Sudbury in 1640, was 
the first to bear the name in this country, in its present 
civilized form, divestedof its barbarous prefixes and suffix- 
es. Sir Richard Grout, in 1587, was recognized by Queen 
Elizabeth for some smart thing or other she considered he 
had done; and who was the immediate ancestor of Capt. 
John Grout, spelled his name "Groutt." Our family 
name, then, in its regenerated form, lineally speaking, 
has been worn by individuals of more or less distinction, 
since Colonial times in America. The heads of the gen- 
erations from that time to this are: 

Capt. John Grout, first generation. 
Jonathan Grout, second generation. 
John Grout, third generation. 
Elijah Grout, fourth generation. 
Theophilus Grout, fifth generation. 
Josiah Grout, sixth generation. 

The Ayer name did not need the elimination of Ger- 
man fores and afts. Originating in "True Love," the 
greatest of Paul's cardinal virtues, it was changed by 
another of England's rulers to a better form; and made 
the air itself, purest of the pure. 

These names. Grout and Ayer, made, modified, and 
mutually favored by the royal authorities of the home 

36 



THE AYER GENEALOGY 



land, in September, 1830, were merged in one and the 
twain entered upon a matrimonial career, resulting al- 
ways in a tolerable home and in the following named 
children: Helen M., William W., George W., Josiah Jun- 
ior, Sophronia E., Mary M., Vicioria N., Theophilus, Su- 
san and James. 

Josiah and Sophronia Ayer Grout were fortunate in 
a large family; but more fortunate in an active solicitude 
and parental care for each child; and may it be that the 
children have, in some measure, requited the anxious de- 
votion of their cherished parents. 



37 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 



OUR HOMES 

AT CANAAN, COMPTON AND KIRBY 

About three years after Josiah Grout and Sophroniai 
Ayer were married they started a home in the woods on 
the road leading from Canaan, Vermont to Coaticook, P', 
Q. A few acres of trees were felled, a small log house> 
a small log barn, and a post and pole shed were construct- 
ed. The house was provided with a stone fire place and 
the three structures were roofed with spruce bark. The 
cracks between the logs were calked with moss and 
chinked with clay mud. This preparation was made in 
the summer time and early the following winter they 
moved from St. Johnsbury with their first child, and oc- 
cupied these improvised quarters as their first home 
with the nearest neighbor three miles through the woods 
away. 

The next spring the ground was cleared of the slash 
made the summer before and crops were raised. Here 
they lived slashing, clearing, and cropping three years, 
when they changed this home with about ten acres clear- 
ed for one four miles west of Compton Village, Can- 
ada, where they lived until they moved to the Grout 
Homestead in Kirby. 

The Compton home had a log house, a framed barn, 
a log barn, a log shed or two and several acres cleared, 
with neighbors, schools, and saw and grist mills not far 
away. While on this place fifty acres were added to the 
clearing and a frame barn, a frame store house, a com- 
fortable framed dwelling house and many other farm im- 

38 



OUR HOMES 



provements were also added; it indeed became quite a 
nice complete farm home. The first year this place was 
'Occupied a new three room log house, logs hewed inside, 
with a chamber, a cellar, a brick fire place and oven, to 
(take the place of the old log house, was built and occu- 
.pied about seven years before a framed dwelling house 
was completed. The equipment of a three hundred tree 
sugar place with dug out sap troughs and considerable 
fencing of rails split on the farm should be included in 
the improvements made in and about this home. 

Seven children of the family were born in this Comp- 
ton home, four in the log houses and three in the framed 
house. To accomplish and realize these homes and their 
results, the years mentioned were filled with work, in- 
deed, very hard work. The outside part of this work ex- 
cept the skilled labor upon the framed structures was 
done by father, mother always taking good care of the in- 
side part. 

These parents were under no obligation to afternoon 
teas, card parties, evening gatherings or any particular 
feature of society; neither belonged to any labor union 
and so made their own time; and intent upon the high- 
est endeavor for the best, they accomplished much, yea, 
very much, in home building; which art, in all its aspects, 
was the pride and ambition of their lives; and to it they 
faithfully and conscientiously devoted themselves, for the 
welfare of their children. 

They considered time employed in pruning the vine, 
tending the flock and bringing up the children well in- 
vested. A little more patience, a little more devotion, a 
little more love were the mottoes of their home. They 
did not think so much of themselves, their own comfort 
and personal enjoyment as of those for whom they were 
responsible. They regarded work a blessing; and em- 

39 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ployed it as best they knew how in the helping up and 
on and out those they had brought into the world. 

In his younger days father was athletic; and in the 
wrestling match seldom thrown. Being with all a will- 
ing worker he could easily make exchanges in the work 
of felling trees; and also in the work of clearing bees, 
such as chunking, piling and burning off. These clear- 
ing bees consisted of several yokes of oxen with men to 
match. They were neighborly donations among the set- 
tlers, greatly aiding the tremendous work of clearing the 
land of the original timber growth. They were the same 
as the raisings and haulings, when the bam, house or 
other building was raised or moved from one location 
to another. When word was passed around for these oc- 
casions, all turned out, so that the gatherings were large 
and jolly. It was first, work; second, feed; third wrest- 
ling and fourth, a smile. The women of the neighbor- 
hood joined in these affairs contributing work and mate- 
rial in feeding the company. 

There were no finished chambers in the houses of 
this Canadian home and a little snow on the coverlids of 
the bed winter mornings only gave zest to the dressing. 
The cooking was all done by fire places and brick ovens. 
The usual dish for supper was hasty pudding cooked in 
the kettle on the crane. Beans baked, stewed or in por- 
ridge, always best nine days old; and boiled dish hash 
with buckwheat cakes for breakfast. Boiled dishes of 
all the vegetables with corned beef or salt pork; or fried 
salt pork and baked potatoes made the dinners. Pota- 
toes were baked in the ashes of the fire place or 
boiled in the kettle on the crane. Cakes were 
cooked in the fire place, sheet iron oven; bread and pies 
were baked in the brick oven. Bread and milk always 
made a luncheon and sometimes a meal. Pumpkin pies 

40 



OUR HOMES 



were much used. Rye and Indian bread with well 
browned crust, with occasionally wheat or graham was 
the staff of life. All food was coarse, plain, simple and 
wholesome. Mince pies, sweet cakes and condimented 
stuffs were in evidence only for company. Candies and 
sweet nibbles were unknown. An acre of wheat, an 
acre of corn, beans and pumpkins, a few acres of buck- 
wheat and oats, and a garden with all the vegetables and 
many herbs constituted the crops. As seed time and 
harvest followed each other, the children, one after 
another took their places in the family circle; and all 
moved on cheerily and happily. The geese, hens, tur- 
keys and ducks were always under mother's care and di- 
rection; and from these sources the family derived much 
good living, besides paying for groceries and some of the 
dry goods; the wool in the fleece and the flax broken and 
hatcheled delivered to mother was a guarantee that she 
would clothe the family from crown to toe. She scoured 
the wool, bleached the flax, spun, colored and wove the 
personal clothing, the bed blankets, the bed sheets, the 
horse blankets, and knit the stockings and mittens until 
after the family moved to the States. 

The poultry had to be guarded early in the season 
against hawks and owls, and later, as they grew and 
ranged about gleaning the fields, against the foxes. 
Yards were provided for the first named emergency; and 
the boys safeguarded the last named. It was pleasant to 
see the flock of geese returning from a day's skirmish for 
their feed in good order to their quarters for the night. 

Mother was a good Thompsonian doctor. She kept 
on hand all the roots, herbs and barks relating to health 
and as occasion and season required she knew how to 
use them. In this home the family had no sickness be- 
yond her control except once when all the children had 

41 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

the measles and some, catching cold, were so seriously 
sick that a doctor was summoned. 

The fur of all the solid color kittens, being tanned, 
mother knew how, was used to trim hoods for the girls 
and caps for the boys. The boys in gray, frock belted 
suits and fur trimmed caps; the girls in checked or solid 
color woolen dresses, with fur trimmed hoods were com- 
fortably clad for school, church, village or home. It was 
all home made but neat and tidy. The cobbler came to 
the house each fall and shod the family, using leather 
from the hides taken to the tannery the year before. 

The team work on farm and road was done by oxen. 
The lumber for the buildings was hauled three miles in 
the log and three miles in the board. Father had no 
horse team, until he moved to the old home in Kirby. 
He had, however, a small hollow backed black mare that 
was used for all the riding about; whether on horseback 
or otherwise. Neither did he have any buggy wagon in 
Canada but used in lieu thereof an improvised jumper 
seat attached to the fore wheels of a one horse work wag- 
on. All the sleds, sleighs, single or double, for horses 
or oxen used for team purposes or driving.were of his make. 
The black mare acted well her part in the economy of the 
home. She raised good colts, the most of which were 
sold, but a nice pair was saved and with the family 
moved to the new home in Vermont. She surrendered 
her claims upon life only a short time before the moving 
took place. She had been with the family twenty odd 
years and was much missed. The general stock of the 
farm had grown to about twenty-five head; ten good 
cows, the balance young cattle. 

I am giving the particulars of this home carefully so 
the reader can see what, by well planned hard work, 
these two people, in about eighteen years had brought 

42 



OUR HOMES 



about. They had been away from their old home sur- 
roundings about this time counting the three years in the 
Canaan wilds. They had been a long fifteen years at 
work making the Compton home. Leaving St. Johns- 
bury with themselves, one child, and the black mare and 
Uttle or nothing else, they were now about to return to 
their childhood locality with eight children and whatever 
of property mentioned, leaving behind the place of all the 
earth where they had made their best endeavors, enjoyed 
their greatest happiness, and richest rewards. 

The Compton home was a little way off the main 
road and on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the winter of 
1848 a single team with two men in the sleigh was seen 
approaching. They must be coming to our house for we 
were at the end of the road and as soon as mother could 
clear us away from the windows Grandfather Theophi- 
lus Grout and Uncle Daniel McGreggor were ushered in. 
They were tall, good looking old gentlemen; grandfather 
about eighty, uncle about seventy. They wore buffalo 
coats and fur caps. The first I had seen of the kind. I 
thought they were the best looking of men. They re- 
mained two days, told some pleasant stories, gave the 
children a penny apiece and took their departure. Moth- 
er soon explained that in about a year we would all leave 
our home and move to the States. 

The time for departure soon arrived, the family 
gathered itself together, bade its pleasant home of early 
memories adieu and moved to the Grout Homestead 
where two more children were added. 

At this home everything was different. The farm 
was large and in carrying it on hired help all the time 
was a necessity. This broke the charm of the family 
circle. 

Villages, schools, churches, saw mills, grist mills 

43 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Stores and all such conveniences were nearer but all 
these accessibles compensated not; and the unique fam- 
ily circle, as in its cozy Compton home, became a dis- 
solving view. Five of the children entered the school in 
the old Castle District, so famous for its celebrated grad- 
uates, including the Hibbards and the Binghams, 
where their homespun, homemade, homelike, fur 
trimmed apparel attracted attention and provoked re- 
mark; but mother said, "Be not ashamed of what you 
wear." The work in the house soon got entirely beyond 
her strength and factory made work took the place of 
some of hers. The older ones began to look beyond the 
family enclosure and out into the world. The oldest sis- 
ter, Helen, married and moved away to Wisconsin, when 
the railroads west terminated at Chicago, where she soon 
died. Ten years after in 1859 at the age of fifty mother 
passed to her reward; and so it was not long before the 
Kirby home began to be another dissolving view. Father 
deceased in 1874. This family, united by such love, 
brought up with such anxiety, such care, with one wish, 
one hope, is broken. Only three of them all remain. 

I cannot proceed with this work, without a word 
of eulogy upon the lives of Josiah Grout and Sophronia 
Ayer, father and mother. 

Their courage.their good judgment.their sense of duty, 
their devotion to their children, their contempt for the 
frivolous and ambition for the best, their frugal habits 
and their wonderful industry, their high qualities of char- 
acter which gave them a proud standing in life are an as- 
surance of a welcome in the world to which they have 
gone. Would that all children of the world today had 
such fathers and mothers. 

THE CANAAN HOME AND THE INDIANS 

When living in the Canaan home father worked out 
44 



OUR HOMES 



considerable and was frequently away nights; often a 
week at a time leaving mother with the baby. None of 
his work was nearer than three miles and some further 
away. Going back and forth daily was out of the ques- 
tion. Indians and others frequently passed the house 
asking for some kind of alms. One night after dark 
when father was away at work and mother was alone 
with her baby three of the red skins, a brave and little 
brave and a squaw, called and asked for something to 
eat. Mother fed them and then they wanted to stay 
over night, and not willing to go any further they remain- 
ed, sleeping in front of the fire place on the floor. Af- 
ter being fed in the morning they went on their way. 
Mother did not retire that night but sat by the bed 
where the baby slept near the gun and axe, her weapons 
of defense 

THE HORSEBACK RIDE 

The fall after moving into the Canaan home, mother, 
having prepared the yarn for weaving for the year's needs 
and having no loom decided to go to her father's eight- 
een miles distant in Compton and do the weaving on her 
mother's loom; accordingly one October day she started 
with the little black mare on horseback with the yarn 
strapped on behind and her two-year old child in her 
arms. She did not start early enough to reach her des- 
tination before dark; and on that day a culvert in the 
road not far from her father's house had been newly cov- 
ered. This frightened the mare so that she would not 
cross over. Whereupon mother shouted sufficiently loud 
to attract attention and with lanterns she was conducted 
over the danger and to the house in season for an eight 
o'clock supper. Much of her ride was through the un- 
broken forest. 

45 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

These incidents speak for themselves; and show the 
temper and courage of a noble woman devoted to duty 
and unmindful of sacrifice. 

Both our parents were unusually mindful of their 
children, toiling early and late for their comfort. They 
were conscientiously attentive to all their moral needs; 
guiding them and guarding them in the ways they should 
go. They directed and encouraged them out into life 
from which the children return their best, most heartfelt 
thanks. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

The following illustrations show the grandparents, 
parents and children of Josiah Grout's family. 

GROUT GRANDPARENTS 

No. 1. Theophilus Grout. 
" 2. Johanna Willard Grout. 

AVER GRANDPARENTS 

3. Carlton Ayer. 

4. Sophia McMannus Ayer. 

PARENTS 

" 5. Josiah Grout. 

6. Sophronia Ayer Grout. 

JOSIAH grout's CHILDREN 

•; 7. Helen M. Grout. 

8. Sophronia E. Grout. 

" 9. Mary M. Grout. 

" 10. Victoria N. Grout. 

" 11. Susan Grout. 

" 12. William W. Grout. 

" 13. George W. Grout. 

" 14. James A. Grout. 

" 15. Josiah Grout. 

" 16. Theophilus Grout. 

46 



WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

FROM BOY TO MAN 

On the 24th day of May, 1836, a child was born at 
the Compton home. It was the second of the children 
and a boy. This made honors easy between boys and 
girls. It was considered an event deserving a name. 

Helen Mars having been selected for the girl, no less 
name was due the boy. The parents admired the life of 
William Wallace, the Scottish chief who fought for his 
people, and gave his life rather than surrender their lib- 
erties; so his name, the synonym of courage, bravery, sac- 
rifice, and devotion, was given the young child. 

Thus named, he began life's journey. This birth 
was in the old log house, just before the new log house 
was occupied. 

It is not far from the baby in the cradle to the boy 
in school; nor from the boy in school to the young man in 
the academy; nor from the young man in the academy to 
the man in life. 

William was soon a boy in school, helping by turn 
father and mother and doing all things that boys do and 
sometimes more. He was active, inquisitive, studious, 
and much inclined to know about things. When quite 
a small boy these conditions were.conspicuous; and the 
natural of them was, that he wanted others to know the 
good things that had been given him to know. 

He and Sister Helen attended school in the log school 
house near the Compton home when he was four years 
old, walking over not very well broken roads in the win- 

47 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ter one mile and a half. The log school house was in- 
deed quite nice. At one end was the door, at the oppo- 
site end a large fire place, on the sides were the seats, 
desks and also the windows which lighted the room. He 
attended school both summer and winter until he was 
ten years old and after only winters. In the summer af- 
ter ten he helped father on the farm. He kept pace with 
the years, playing, working, going to school, fishing, and 
growing, until he was past twelve when his Canadian life 
was exchanged for life in Vermont. 

The last few years in Canada he was very helpful 
riding the little black mare to Compton on store errands, 
driving the oxen to mill with grists, to the saw mill with 
logs, and in the hay and harvest field. As soon as he 
knew how to do things he was given things to do. Fa- 
ther thought it better for children, as soon as capable, to 
do some kind of pleasant, easy work for exercise, rather 
than play all the time. He considered usefulness and 
helpfulness virtues of life that could not be instilled in 
the mind of the child too early; so the children were not 
allowed to have a good time all the time by wasting their 
time in aimless playing. There was always some useful 
thing to do which would help in doing the immense work 
of the family, the farm and the home. William was cap- 
able and helpful at the age of twelve. In moving the 
family to Vermont, in the winter season, he drove a pair 
of horses both ways, with mother, three of the children, 
and some of the goods for a load one way and was away 
from home on the trip six days. 

From this age onlie was a worker and helped mater- 
ially in the work of the Vermont home. He attended 
school winters and soon showed signs of a good scholar, 
leading his classes. He was instrumental in organizing 
a debating society, in the old Castle District, the first in 

48 



FROM BOY TO MAN 



its history; and at the age of fourteen was a ready debat- 
er and quite a writer in the weekly exercises of that so- 
ciety. 

In the fall of his fifteenth year he attended the St. 
Johnsbury Academy with Professor Colby, his teacher; 
and again in the spring of that year and also the fall of 
his sixteenth year. In the winter of his sixteenth year 
he taught school in what was known as the Stark Dis- 
trict in the Town of St. Johnsbury. This was a noto- 
riously difficult school. No teachers for several terms 
had been able to succeed with it; and some of the teach- 
ers had been ejected from the school house. He succeed- 
ed and taught the same school the two succeeding win- 
ters. The school house at his instance was enlarged and 
improved; and the scholars numbered as high as sixty. 
He was paid $15 a month for the first winter; $18 a 
month for the second winter and $20 a month for the 
third. 

He boarded himself while attending the academy at 
St. Johnsbury. While at this school he participated in its 
lyceum; and competed in the prize declamation contests. 
In the contest of the last term of his attendance he won 
the first prize. In the spring of his sixteenth year; and 
the five succeeding falls and springs he attended the Or- 
leans Liberal Institute at Glover under Professor Parker, 
a teacher much like Professor Colby. At Glover he was 
one of the leading scholars and after six terms was fitted 
for college. 

It was estimated that $1000 would be needed for a 
college course; instead of asking his father for this sum 
he decided to take an office drill, to be supplemented by 
a law school course; since he was to be a lawyer. 

He entered the law office of O.T. Brown, an able law- 
yer with a good practice at St. Johnsbury East, where he 

49 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

remained registered two years, during which time he 
attended the Poughkeepsie Law School two terms; from 
which he graduated in good standing and after a few 
months in the office of the Honorable Thomas Bartlett, 
he was admitted to the Caledonia County Bar at the De- 
cember term, 1857, being recommended by the examin- 
ing committee as having passed a good examination and 
as being a scholar and a gentleman. 

I cannot refrain from telling that while a boy he at- 
tended a cattle fair at St. Johnsbury with his grandfather 
and wore a stove pipe hat. The hat was not a very good 
fit and attracted attention. One of the boys attending 
the fair said to him, "Where did you get so much hat?" 
and he replied saying, "Where did you get so much 
tongue?" 

Soon after admission to the bar he arranged a part- 
nership with George Tucker, a young lawyer, and began 
practicing his profession at Barton. At this time the ter- 
minus of the Passumpsic Railroad was at St. Johnsbury. 
Shortly after it was extended to Barton. The Old Boston 
& Stanstead Stage Company, then owned by Hiram Hill 
and Jerry Drew did the carrying of freight and passen- 
gers from the terminal of the road to the Canadian bor- 
der. 

The six horse team and the six horse stage were 
much in evidence along the old stage road from St. Johns- 
bury to Canada line, from 1852 to 1858, and from Barton 
from 1858 to 1864. 

When the railroad reached Barton the owners of the 
stage company were the proprietors of the Barton Hotel. 
The civil authorities of Barton complained that intoxi- 
cants were unlawfully sold at this inn and young Grout 
was employed to prosecute the complaint. The Honor- 
able Thomas Bartlett was counsel for the defense. The 

50 



FROM BOY TO MAN 



justice, before whom the complaint was heard, was J. C. 
Buswell of Barton. The trial of this matter lasted weeks 
having many continued hearings. It became notorious, 
attracting much attention and provoking much comment 
far and near. A large number of witnesses were sum- 
moned. At the first hearing a few only appeared, and 
none of those examined had drank liquor, as the com- 
plaint alleged, at the Barton Hotel. Some had drank pop, 
some beer, and some sweet cider. The prosecutor, not 
satisfied with this testimony, moved a continuance and 
an order that all who had been examined should appear 
again and that a bench warrant issue for those who had 
not appeared. Two days later the court met again and 
witnesses were examined into the night with the result 
that another continuance and more bench warrants were 
granted. As the gathering of the court room was emerg- 
ing into the open Jerry Drew assaulted the prosecutor, 
cuffed him, pulled him about, tore his coat and kicked 
him. This attempted intimidation pushed the prosecu- 
tion with greater vigor, occasioned the arrest of Drew 
and several of the evading witnesses. The witnesees 
were bound over. Drew was fined, and a suit was enter- 
ed by William Wallace Grout, in County Court, against 
Hiram Hill and Jerry Drew for personal damages grow- 
ing out of the assault. After a few more continued hear- 
ings and a few prosecutions for perjury the witnesses 
knew the difference between whiskey and pop and a good- 
ly number of offenses were adjudged against the hotel 
keepers. 

The excitement of this barbarous attempt at brow- 
beating and intimidation soon subsided; and young Grout, 
being on top at each stage of the scuffle except that with 
Drew, was well advertised and ever after had all the bus- 
iness he could attend to. 



51 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

His suit for private damages was afterward tried at 
Irasburg by Stoddard B. Colby and George N. Dale for 
the plaintiff, Timothy P. Redfield and Thomas Bartlett 
for the defendants, resulting in very substantial damages 
for the plaintiff. Hill and Drew employed this young law- 
yer soon after in several important business matters, say- 
ing they wanted a lawyer always sober who knew how 
to fight and stay in to the finish. They were strong 
friends ever after as long as they lived. 

In 1860, our subject married Loraine M. Smith of 
Glover. She was a classmate of his school days at the 
Orleans Liberal Institute, an entertaining, interesting, am- 
iable woman. They had two sweet little girls, both dy- 
ing in baby life. Soon after marriage he built a house in 
Barton village, which became their nice, pleasant home. 
Loraine was not strong in health and unreconciled to the 
loss of her children, she went into a decline and in 1868, 
crossed the river in search of her little ones, she was so 
sure she would find. 

In 1862, Governor Holbrook gave William W. Grout 
an order to recruit a company at Barton for the 15th Reg- 
iment, Vermont Volunteers. The company was soon re- 
cruited and upon its organization the recruiting officer 
was chosen its captain. When the regiment was organ- 
ized he was appointed lieutenant colonel. He went to 
the front with this regiment and served with it until its 
muster out in 1863. 

For a considerable time following this he was seri- 
ously sick, not being able to resume business until the 
spring of 1864. He contracted in the service malaria 
which ever after preyed upon his health, at times occasion- 
ing severe illness. This old enemy was a visible feature 
of his last sickness. 

As soon as able he resumed practice with a full hand 

52 



^i=S>V^^S\^=?-l^ 



m. 



w 




W' 






¥* 






I 



GENERAL GROUT'S FAMILY 




GENERAL GROUT'S BARTON HOME 



FROM BOY TO MAN 



of business. The St. Albans raid in October, 1864, pre- 
cipitated a state of affairs resulting in putting him in 
charge of the State frontier from Richford East. This 
protective service he rendered with characteristic abiUty. 

He was State's Attorney of Orleans County from 1866 
to 1867. In 1866 he purchased the Orleans Independent 
Standard, a paper published at Barton, conducting and 
editing it for about one year. This work he enjoyed very 
much and ranked well with the editorial staff of the 
State. It interfered, however, too much with his pract- 
ice and he quit the newspaper business. 

In the ever memorable Baxter and Hoyt campaign 
of 1866 he was most active and a great force in deter- 
mining its result. 

In 1868, he represented the Town of Barton in the 
House at Montpelier and again in 1869, and again in 
1870. At these sessions he was active, aggressive, and 
very much a leader. 

He was able in committee work, ready in debate 
and an all round helper on the right side of all legisla- 
tive work. He stood well and made a host of friends 
throughout the state who never forgot him. 

In 1874, he again represented his town at Montpe- 
lier and was emphatically a leader, notwithstanding there 
were in that house an unusually large number of men 
who have held high offices and rendered important pub- 
lic services to both state and nation. He was a decided 
leader because, ever alert, always on the hunt, getting all 
his points together, he won out whenever he seriously 
undertook to. He used good judgment in selecting his 
espousals, carefully eschewing all frivolous subjects. In 
1876, he was in the Senate, President pro tempore, and a 
helpful, strong member of that body. Again he made 
hosts of friends who never forgot him. 

53 



i 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

In 1865, the legislature enacted a militia law provid- 
ing for three brigades and three brigadier generals. 
William W. Grout was chosen one of the three generals. 
He organized a fine brigade and held one muster when 
the state changed its mind, reducing the militia to one 
regiment and modifying the militia law accordingly. 

In 1868, he was a delegate to the convention that 
nominated General Grant at Chicago. In 1876, Govern- 
or Peck was made by his many friends a candidate for re- 
nomination. After all the candidates were arrayed and 
several unsuccessful ballots had been taken, General 
Grout presented the name of Horace Fairbanks in a most 
telling speech and he was nominated, thus breaking the 
deadlock between Colonel Meade of Randolph, Deacon 
Estey of Brattleboro and Governor Peck. 

In this same convention he was active in the inter- 
ests of his friend, Redfield Proctor, for lieutenant govern- 
or. This was Proctor's first venture in the field of state 
politics and in the convention of 1878, he was nominated 
for Governor. These nominations were abetted more by 
General Grout than any other one man. 

To reach ahead a little, I will tell that in 1888, Gene- 
ral Grout was the most active and influential of any in 
promoting Governor Proctor's candidacy for Secretary of 
War in President Harrison's Cabinet. He drew the joint 
resolution adopted by the General Assembly at Montpe- 
lier endorsing his candidacy. This resolution was offered 
in the House by the Hon. C. A. Prouty in General Grout's 
handwriting, it was supported by personal endorsements 
and accomplished his appointment. From the War oflice 
Proctor passed to the Senate. This is mentioned to re- 
mind that true friendship, active, alert and untiring, was 
an unfailing quahty of William W. Grout. From the 
Civil War until his congressional career in 1880, he had 

54 



FROM BOY TO MAN 



a large, profitable practice and was one of the foremost 
lawyers of the State. He was easily one of the first at 
the bar of his own county. One term at Irasburg, the 
court held by Judge Peck, he tried nine jury cases in 
each of which he secured a verdict for his client. He of- 
ten took part in as many trials at a term but they would 
not all be victorious. He tried only such disputes as 
could not otherwise be disposed of. He settled, if possi- 
ble, doubtful matters and was always a lawyer more for 
peace than for war. 

We have the baby, the boy, the young man and twen- 
ty added years of the man; with an unselfish disposi- 
tion to help parents, students, friends and neighbors. 
We have an ever alert faithfulness and an ever consist- 
ent duty to client. We have a cheerful, public spirited 
citizen patriotically serving country and state; and last 
but not least we have a kind devotion to family and home. 

We will consider these salient features of life so 
prominent and helpful, so ennobling and encouraging, an 
introduction to a new sphere of usefulness, a broader 
field of activity to the supreme accomplishment of life. 

Before ushering him into Congress I wanted you to 
see him from his childhood, to see the manner of parent- 
age from which he sprung, the way in which he was 
brought up, the directness with which he emerged from 
that home into life for himself; and the sanguine en- 
deavor with which he pursued his earlier work. 

It is only from these view points that you can get a 
fair measure of his true life. 

Before he entered public life some of his best efforts 
appeared in lectures, especially one upon .Robert Burns 
delivered quite generally throughout the State; an ad- 
dress before the Officers' Reunion Society, on the Battle 
of Gettysburg; addresses on Memorial Day occasions, 
and at agricultural fairs and before educational gather- 
ings. This class of his work was of a high order, al- 
ways interesting and instructive. 

55 



GENERAL GROUT'S 18 YEARS 
IN CONGRESS 

FOREWORD 

It was his privilege to serve Vermont in the lower 
House of Congress a longer period of time than any 
other person. This term of service required his entire 
time and a practical sacrifice of all his business. 

It was his ambition to be in Congress and to his work 
there he gave the best of his life. 

Let his congressional career attest its success. From 
a perusal of the following pages you can form an opinion 
of the value of his public life. You are asked in study- 
ing his work in the House to notice the kind of subjects 
he selected for attention; and also the character of the 
speeches he made supporting those subjects. Only brief 
extracts of a few of his many speeches are given; but 
they are indicators of the quality of his work, as well as 
the caliber and ability of the man. I am indebted to a 
friend familiar with congressional work, congressional 
records and congressional life during the time covered, 
for assistance in the following abridgment: 

"His speeches were much to the point, helpful eluci- 
dations of the subjects considered. Statesmanlike, dig- 
nified and useful. It required time, study, and brains to 
produce them. 

"He used no idle language. Every word weighed a 
pound and went directly to the mark. His thoughts 
were center shots. His words full of pertinent meaning, 
and his expressions loaded with conviction. He was not 
a profuse talker; but convincing. His success depended 

56 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



more upon his ever at it, untiring industry and clear 
sighted, intelligent acts than anything else." 

A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 

His political ventures, like others of his life, were 
beset with difficulties. In short, his purposes and plans 
generally were confronted with obstructions; and very 
few of them all were initiated without opposition. This 
as he frequently said only made the way afterward easier. 

In 1878, he was a candidate for the 46th Congress, 
from the Third District. The Honorable Bradley Bar- 
low was also a candidate. The pre-convention canvass 
was spirited, but so far as known, it passed off friendly. He 
was nominated in the convention at Hyde Park. The nomi- 
nation was forthwith bolted and a furious campaign fol- 
lowed. The nomination was fair and square according 
to the delegate plan; but money thrown wild, at once cre- 
ated strange relations and made strange bed fellows. 
The opposition was conducted under the guise of the 
Green Back Party; and it was more than interesting to 
see how many Green Backers there were in the Third 
District. Democrats, Republicans, Prohibitionists, and 
all types and stripes of voters, as by magic, were Green 
Backers. Never in the history of the State, or any other 
state, did the Green Back so literally and completely 
know its own. The campaign was deplorable. There 
was no election in September; but Barlow was chosen in 
the later specially ordered election. 

Mr. Barlow was not a candidate for re-election and as 
by one voice General Grout was chosen to the 47th Con- 
gress from the Third District. 

The number of those in the District who expressed 
regrets for acts in the Barlow matter and became his 
fast friends ever after was legion. 

57 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 
THE 47th CONGRESS 

In the 47th Congress, General Grout made his first 
appearance as a congressional actor. He was assigned 
to the Committee on Territories and the Committee on 
Expenditures on Public Buildings. 

The first session, he introduced twenty-nine bills, in- 
cluding one to suppress bigamy in the territories and fif- 
teen private pension bills. 

He prepared and reported from the Committee on 
Territories the bill to create the Territory of North Da- 
kota. 

His first speech in the House was advocating a bill 
to make the Bureau of Agriculture a department and a 
cabinet office. This speech, though his first, was well 
nigh his best; and in the next Congress the chief indus- 
try of the country had an official head in the president's 
cabinet. 

He made a speech in favor of a measure defining the 
right of claimants to the Geneva award. 

This was an important subject and the speech was 
entirely commensurate. 

In the second session, General Grout introduced 
seven bills, including one granting homesteads to soldiers 
and sailors. 

He delivered a speech relating to . the French Spoli- 
ation Claims. This was an important matter determin- 
ing claims of many American citizens arising from 
French Spoliation acts as far back as 1801; and had been 
for years a constantly recurring subject because of its un- 
determined questions. 

The speech was legislative and historical, pointing 
the way for claimants in the matter and was used by the 
Government and those concerned in the claims. 

During this session he also delivered speeches upon 

58 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



American shipping, upon the bill to create the Territory 
of Dakota and upon the bill to create the States of North 
and South Dakota out of the Territory of Dakota. Get- 
ting two new states, sure to be Republican, out of this 
legislation, made it a warm subject, but its champion saw 
it safely through. 

Thus endeth General Grout's part in the 47th Con- 
gress. In brief outline you have the leading features of 
his work in that Congress. His subjects were of nation- 
al import. His speeches were learned and able. In the 
work that fell to his care, he was successful. It was of 
a constructive character in keeping with the nation's 
growth doing justice by its chief industry, its moral wel- 
fare, and providing for the defenders of its flag. 

The six matters upon which he spoke as stated were 
settled and the Government's policy concerning them es- 
tablished. The speeches were calculated to aid in solv- 
ing difficulties, providing for embarrassments and creat- 
ing rules for future action. 

The following excerpts from the speeches upon the 
establishment of a cabinet office for the agricultural in- 
dustry of the country and American Shipping show the 
character of the entire speeches. 

CABINET OFFICE FOR AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY 

"We have seen that agriculture furnishes over eighty 
per cent of all the products that we sell to foreign 
countries and if that industry should fail or be greatly 
diminished, financial disaster and national bankruptcy 
would follow. And who, as he studies this subject in all 
its bearings, can say that a department in which centers 
such vast possibilities of wealth and which involves so 
extensively the questions of supply and demand, of tax- 
ation and labor and finance, ought not as contributing to 

59 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

the prosperity and permanency of the Government itself, 
to be recognized in the ministry of its affairs? Colum- 
ella, who lived in the time our Savior was upon the earth, 
said of agriculture that it was the blood relative of wis- 
dom. Surely if this relationship still continues a seat for 
her will not be out of place in the President's Cabinet." 

AMERICAN SHIPPING 

"I hope the House will come to a speedy vote on this 
bill and go to a consideration of those great questions in 
which the whole body of the American people feel an in- 
terest, questions of tariff and taxation and the frugal ad- 
ministration of the Government. In our elections we are 
compelled to wait until the rural districts are heard 
from. This debate has already run nearly a week and 
would it not be well to look just a little to the interests 
of the rural districts, of those great industrial classes in 
whose homes are the issues of the national life and spend 
no more time on this measure which indirectly interests 
only a small circle of importers and ship builders, pro- 
bably not one-thousandth part of our whole population? 
It has already consumed more than one-seventh of the 
valuable time of this short session." 

THE 48th CONGRESS 

General Grout was not in the 48th Congress, the sec- 
ond district being represented by Judge Poland, under 
the new apportionment occasioned by the 10th Census. 

THE 49th CONGRESS 

In the 49th Congress he was a member of the com- 
mittees on the District of Columbia and Levees and Im- 
provements of the Mississippi River. During the first 

60 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



session he introduced fifty-two bills, including one for a 
tax on oleomargarine and one to pension the widow of 
General Stannard. 

General Grout's principal speeches during this ses- 
sion were on the oleomargarine taxation bill, which even 
then he was strenuously advocating, the bill for the relief 
of Fitz-John Porter and his bill to pension the widow of Gen- 
eral Stannard. 

General Grout vigorously opposed the bill for the re- 
lief of General Porter from the sentence of a court mar- 
tial in 1863, in a speech which was accompanied by maps 
and diagrams and which occupies eleven pages of the 
Congressional Record of February 16, 1886, beginning 
with the 1541st page. The speech is an exhaustive an- 
alysis of this celebrated case and must be of interest to 
the reader and the historical student. It contained much 
information not then made public but which has since 
appeared in the later volumes of the Records of the Re- 
belHon. 

Before giving the closing paragraphs of his Fitz-John 
Porter speech the reader should know that the summer 
of 1862 had been filled with disappointments to the 
Union cause. 

The Army of the Potomac, under McClellan, in at- 
tempting the capture of Richmond, had been driven back 
and so reduced and discouraged, as to encourage Lee in 
moving north and upon Washington. 

Pope had gathered the improvised army of Vir- 
ginia and intervened between Lee and the national 
Capitol. McClellan had been ordered by President Lin- 
coln to retire from in front of Richmond and join Pope in 
defense of Washington. This he did upon protest, with 
great reluctance and surprising delay. The reason for 
which was that in defending the Capitol and the north 

61 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

against Lee's movement he would be under Pope. Fitz- 
John Porter was an admirer of McClellan and could 
not bear to see him superseded. It took nearly thir- 
ty days for McClellan to move his army about fifty miles 
in compliance with the President's orders; and upon 
reaching the battle field where Pope had made a stand 
twenty miles out from Washington and was fighting Lee 
desperately some of his corps commanders only tardily 
moved to Pope's relief ; and Fitz-John Porter, McClellan 's 
pet, commanding the crack corps of the Army of the Po- 
tomac, failed to obey Pope's orders, allowing Lee to be 
victorious, and move north into Maryland, imminently 
threatening Washington. 

For this disobedience of orders General Porter was 
tried by Court Martial composed of his peers, found 
guilty and dismissed the service by President Lincoln's 
order. Years after he sought relief from this sentence 
in the 49th Congress and General Grout strenuously op- 
posed the bill for such relief, as will be seen by the close 
of the speech he made against such unwise legislation. 

FITZ-JOHN PORTER SPEECH 

"Now let us return to Fitz-John Porter and his com- 
mand. Here was a corps in material and discipline con- 
sidered the very best in the Army of the Potomac. 

It contained the troops of the regular Army. It was 
filled with officers and men both patriotic and faithful. 

Porter, told by McClellan that it was a "case of life 
and death" had brought his corps up from Falmouth 
in the last seven days, counting the 29th, a distance of 50 
miles; a less distance than A. P. Hill moved his division 
in two of those seven days. 

This corps had seen no fighting since July 1; only 
two days less than two months since it had fired a gun at 

62 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



the enemy. We have already seen how the little Army 
of Virginia since the battle of Cedar Mountain, Au- 
gust 9th, had been constantly marching and fighting, 
being confronted by greatly superior numbers. And 
again on this memorable 29th of August the remnant of 
that army was found in line of battle and in deadly en- 
counter with the enemy. But this corps of Porter's in- 
stead of being in line of battle and facing the enemy was 
strung along the road from Bethlehem church to Daw- 
kin's Branch; here the column halted, the men taking 
their ease, and its commander apparently not at all stir- 
red by the din of battle on his right, in which his com- 
panions in arms were falling like autumn leaves. With 
three several orders in his pocket, obedience to any one 
of which would have taken him to the assistance of the 
line under Pope, which he well understood was being 
driven back, he decided without striking a blow to "with- 
draw to Manassas." But not quite daring to do this un- 
less McDowell would join him, he reluctantly remained, 
but was careful to give no assistance through the long 
hours of that fierce contest which only the thick darkness 
of night subdued. Yes, ordered to advance, he "deter- 
mined to withdraw to Manassas," and actually sent one 
brigade back, apparently not caring what disaster might 
overtake the army on the right; not caring that the Cap- 
itol was in danger; that, in fact, the hand of the assassin 
was at the throat of the Republic. 

This was Fitz-John Porter's conduct on the 29th of 
August, 1862. But this was not the only day of his diso- 
bedience. We have seen how, upon the receipt of the 
first order from the commander of the Army of Virginia, 
he was in doubt whether he would obey it; and upon decid- 
ing to do so, asked his friend, Burnside, to "inform McClel- 
lan that he might know he was doing right." We have 

63 






MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

seen also how the order of the 27th to move at 1 o'clock 
A. M., was wholly disregarded. And, most significant of 
all, as the mirror in which stands reflected the treacher- 
ous purpose of this man, we have seen his oft-repeated 
expressions of contempt for Pope and the mysterious 
turning of his heart to another idol— to the man who said, 
"See me before you sail." The board says this conduct 
of Porter was "obedient, subordinate, and faithful." But 
I tell you, notwithstanding this encomium of the board; 
notwithstanding under this bill, if it should become a law, 
the President and the Senate may restore him to his ori- 
ginal rank in the Army and put him on the retired list, 
the impartial pen of history will write against the name 
of Fitz-John Porter the word traitor, not to the flag, but 
to his superior officer, whom he resolved not to help. 
But the darkness of night had come on and the bat- 
tle was fast dying out. General Pope had heard no sound 
from Porter's guns in response to the 4:30 order; and he 
knew that Porter must have wholly disregarded it, just 
as he had every order he had thus far sent him, except- 
ing the first. Saying to himself "I will see if I can get 
this man into action" Pope sent him the following, which 
by its terms is suggestive that he was becoming some- 
what in earnest: 



Headquarters Army of Virginia, 
In the Field Near Bull Run, 

August 29, 1862—8:50 P. M. 

General: Immediately upon receipt of this order, the 
precise hour of receiving which you will acknowledge, 
you will march your command to the field of battle and 
report to me in person for orders. You are to under- 

64 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



Stand that you are expected to comply strictly with this 
order, and to be present on the field within three hours 
after its reception, or after daybreak tomorrow morning. 
John Pope, 

Major-General, Commanding. 
Maj. Gen. F. J. Porter, 
(Received August 30—3:30 A. M.) 

But Porter did not obey this last order. Though he 
went himself, he did not take his whole command to the 
field. Two brigades and one of his division commanders, 
General Morell, straggled away to Centerville, more than 
6 miles to the rear. One of these brigades reached the 
field at night, just as the battle closed; but the other 
made no effort whatever to come up. Pope's force was 
less on the 30th by these two brigades, than it would 
have been had Porter taken them along as ordered. 
Think of it, two whole brigades ordered up to take part 
in the battle, marching back 6 miles to the rear! Now, 
if Porter did not connive at this, he was clearly respon- 
sible for it. The officers of these brigades only did what 
they knew Porter all the time wanted to do, namely, fall 
back; one of them testifying that he expected when he 
reached Centerville to have found Porter there. 

But Porter was on the field on the 30th and took 
part in the battle. It is said that he did well. But sup- 
pose he did; that does not help his former conduct. He 
was then under the eye of his superior, and if he faltered 
his disobedience would be plain. 

Notwithstanding the gallant fighting of the 30th the 
battle was lost. It was fatally turned against us by the 
complete inactivity of Porter's corps on the 29th, before 
the enemy was settled in his position and before his re- 
enforcements were all up. 

65 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 



Porter's failure to take four thousand of his twelve 
thousand men into action on the 30th, coupled with the 
fact that Lee was re-enforced on the morning of the 30th 
with Anderson's division of six thousand men, and Lee's 
battalion of artillery, made Lee relatively stronger by ten 
thousand men, not counting Colonel Lee's artillery, than 
he was on the 29th; and this saying nothing of Lee's fur- 
ther re-enforcement on the afternoon of the 30th by Mc- 
Law's and D. H. Hills's divisions of five thousand men 
each, and nothing also of Franklin's corps from the Army 
of the Potomac, which should have participated in both 
days's fight, thus the second battle of Bull Run was lost. 
The 29th was the day of our hope in that battle. That 
was the day when the heavy blows should have been 
struck, but on that day Fitz-John Porter, though four 
times ordered to strike never lifted a hand. 

The second battle of Bull Run ought to have been a 
great Union victory. It would have been had Porter 
been zealous and active on the 29th; and had General 
Franklin gone forward with alacrity under the orders he 
received it must have resulted in the overwhelming de- 
feat of the enemy. It would have been the Waterloo of 
the rebellion. There would have been no Antietam, no 
Gettysburg, and no river of blood from the Wilderness to 
Cold Harbor. 

Now, to properly understand the conduct of Fitz- 
John Porter in this campaign it should be studied in the 
light of the conduct of General Franklin and the com- 
mander of the Army of the Potomac. By taking a view 
of these three men in a group the motive for Porter's 
lukewarmness becomes apparent. Without this his con- 
duct, though clearly disobedient, might seem inexplic- 
able; with it all is plain. Remember that on the 3d 
of August General McClellan was ordered to withdraw 

66 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



the Army of the Potomac from the James for the re-en- 
forcement of the army under General Pope. When 
these armies were united who was to have command, 
Pope or McClellan? That was the question. For some 
reason never explained, General Sumner's corps was 
held back till all the other corps had come forward. 
Now, of all the corps commanders of the Army of the 
Potomac at that time, if there was one who, like Napo- 
leon's marshals "always marched to the sound of the en- 
emy's guns," it was Edwin V, Sumner. But he was kept 
back. We have already seen how not a man left Harris- 
on's Landing under this order until August 14; we have 
also seen Porter's arrival at Falmouth the 22d and his 
snail-like progress in connecting with Pope and his con- 
duct thereafter. General Franklin's corps arrived at Al- 
exandria the 24th and 25th of August. On the 26th he 
received the following order: 

War Department, Washington,August 26, 1862. 
Major-General Franklin, Alexandria, Va.: 

You will march your corps by Centerville toward 
Warrenton, reporting to General Pope. 

H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 
On the 27th General McClellan arrived at Alexan- 
dria and reported to the General-in-Chief. On the 28th 
the following despatch was sent to General Franklin: 

War Department, Washington, August 28, 1862. 
Major-General Franklin, Alexandria, Va.: 

On parting with General McClellan about two 
o'clock this morning it was understood that you were to 
move your corps today toward Manassas Junction to 
drive the enemy from the railroad. I have just learned 
that the general has not yet returned to Alexandria. If 
you have not received his orders act on this. 

H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

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MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

But it seems the General-in-Chief learned that Frank- 
lin had not gone forward as ordered, and McClellan was 
claiming he was not ready to go, whereupon Halleck 
sent the following to General McClellan: 

Washington, D. C, August 28, 1862—7:40 P. M. 
Major-General McClellan, Alexandria, Va.: 

There must be fio further delay in moving Frank- 
lin's corps toward Manassas. They must go tomorrow 
morning, ready or not ready. If we delay too long to 
get ready there will be no necessity to go, for Pope will 
either be defeated or victorious without our aid. If 
there is want of wagons the men must carry provisions 
with them until the wagons can come to their relief. 

H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

The following order speaks for itself: 

Washington, D. C, August 29, 1862—7:40 P. M. 
Major-General McClellan, Alexandria, Va.: 

You will immediately send construction trains and 
guards to repair railroads to Manassas; let there be no 
delay in this. 

I have just been told that Franklin's corps stopped 
at Annandale, and that he was this evening in Alexan- 
dria. 

This is all contrary to my orders; investigate and re- 
port the facts of this disobedience. That corps must 
push forward as I directed, protect the railroad, and open 
our communication with Manassas. 

H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

On the night of the 30th, after the battle was all 
over, this corps reached Centerville, a distance of twenty 
miles from Alexandria, where it landed five days before. 
Thus do we see that Franklin went to the relief of Pope 
much as Porter did. Now, without claiming that Mc- 

68 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



Clellan ought to have got Porter's corps to Falmouth in 
less than twenty days after he was ordered, and Frank- 
lin's corps to Alexandria in less than twenty-three days, 
can there be any doubt but that if these two corps, after 
they were landed, had pressed forward with vigor to the 
help of Pope there would have been a radically different 
result on the plains of Manassas? It would have result- 
ed in a signal victory, in a complete triumph for the 
Army of Virginia and its commander, and as the hero of 
the hour Pope would have had command of the Army of 
the Potomac. But instead of this the day was lost. 
Pope was whipped. He was no longer to be feared by 
McClellan or his friends. No one knew this better than 
McClellan himself. Porter had been the chief instru- 
ment of Pope's defeat, and rumors of his infidehty had 
come up here to the capital. Whereupon McClellan, 
two days after the battle, two days after the mischief 
was all done, in the exercise of that mystical power 
which he was supposed to hold over this man, sent him 
the following fervid personal note: 

War Department, September 1, 1862—5.30 P. M. 

I ask you for my sake, that of the country, and of 
the old Army of the Potomac, that you and all friends 
will lend the fullest and most cordial co-operation to 
General Pope in all the operations now going on. 

The distresses of our country, the honor of our arms 
are at stake, and all depends now upon the cheerful co- 
operation of all in the field. This week is the crisis of 
our fate. Say the same thing to all my friends in the 
Army of the Potomac, and that the last request I have to 
make of them is that for their country's sake they will 
extend to General Pope the same support they ever have 
to me. I am in charge of the defenses of Washington. 

69 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALL ACE GROUT 

I am doing all I can to render your retreat safe, should! 
that become necessary. 

George B. McClellan, 

Major-General. 
Major-General Porter^ 

Centerville, Commanding Fifth Corps, 
Now to understand the exact meaning of this patri- 
otic appeal there should be read between the lines of it 
the following despatch of just three days before, sent in 
reply to Pete's call for food for his army; and sent, too^ 
at the very hour he was engaged in deadly conflict with 
the enemy, and while Alexandria was swarming with 
troops from the Army of the Potomac, among which was 
Franklin's Corps, which, as we have seen, was ordered 
two days before that to march to the relief of Pope. 
Would that this despatch had never been sent. Here it is: 

August 29, 1862-8 P. M. 
To Commanding Officer at Centerville: 

I have been instructed by General McClellan to in- 
form you that he will have all the available wagons at 
Alexandria loaded with rations for your troops, and all 
of the cars also, as soon as you will send a cavalry es- 
cort to Alexandria as a guard to the train. 
Respectfully, 

W. B. Franklin, 
Maj. Gen, Commanding Sixth Corps. 

This last despatch shows the kind of support Mc- 
Clellan would have had Porter give to Pope had the re- 
quest been before the battle. But the mischief was al- 
ready done. Pope's fate was fixed. He was beaten, and 
was sure to be set aside. The man to lead armies is 
never the man who loses battles. On the 1st day of Sep- 
tember the Army of Virginia was ordered within the for- 

70 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



tifications about Washington, and McClellan set about 
consolidating it with the Army of the Potomac; and Pope 
was without a command. His sun had set. And at the 
same time "McClellan's star was up"— just as Fitz-John 
Porter wrote his friend, Burnside, he hoped it would be 
■"about the 31st." It was only one day behind the time 
fixed by Porter's horoscope when Burnside was to hear 
from him "by way of Alexandria;" and like a true pro- 
phet he had done as little as possible to prevent the ful- 
filment of the prophecy. The result was not only as 
Porter hoped, but as McClellan expected when he wrote 
Burnside a "confidential" note on the 20th of August, 
saying: 

Yesterday and today I have received intelligence 
from confidential sources leading me to think it probable 
that Halleck will not or cannot carry out his intention in 
regard to my position as expressed to you. 

No, he "could not." The crisis was not then passed. 
The victorious enemy was still aggressive. Though Mc- 
Clellan was under manifest suspicion at the War Depart- 
ment of not having brought the Army of the Potomac to 
Pope's assistance as expeditiously as he might, yet it 
"could not" in that critical and perilous time displace 
him and give the command to another; and as a result 
the army under his leadership followed the enemy into 
Maryland. 

The stake that Porter had played for was won. He 
was again with the chief whom he loved best. Nor was 
McClellan ungrateful to his friend. 

The curious will always wonder whether it was 
from a sense of obligation or from purely military con- 
siderations that at the terrible battle of Antietam, on the 
17th of September, Porter was given the post of honor 
and the place of safety. 

71 






MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

His corps was held all day in reserve behind the hill 
just in front of Pry's house, where McClellan had his 
headquarters, and during the whole of that bloody strug- 
gle never fired a gun. Thus for a season did the guilty 
prosper. But a day of reckoning was at hand. When 
the tide of war set back again to the southward this man 
was brought to justice. 

Nine general officers, among them James A. Gar- 
field, presided over by the venerable David Hunter, just 
gone to his reward, said he was guilty of disobedience of 
orders and sentenced him to be dismissed from the ser- 
vice. The findings and sentence were approved by 
Abraham Lincoln; and this man left the army covered 
with the disgrace which he had brought upon himself. 
But now, after twenty-three years, it is proposed by the 
unauthorized and violent edict of Congress to "annul and 
set aside" the judgment of that court. It may be natu- 
ral for those of you on the other side of the House, who 
were on the other side on the 29th of August, 1862, to 
feel like helping this man now, who so effectually helped 
you then. Bnt remember that this Government is now 
yours; and just now the administration of it is yours. 
And, as swift punishment would have surely overtaken 
conduct like that of Porter's in the army to which you 
then belonged, how can you consistently or safely make 
the attack contemplated by this bill upon the efficiency 
and good name of the army whose honor is now in your 
keeping. 

"Ask yourselves upon the other side of the House, 
before passing this bill, if you can afford to prostitute the 
legislative power of this Government to the work of over- 
throwing the judgment of any court whatever which has 
existed by authority of law. 

Ask yourselves if you can afford to break down the dis- 

72 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



cipline of your Army by restoring to rank and position 
therein a man of whose treachery and disobedience nine- 
tenths of that Army are well convinced. But it may be 
said that this was an occurrence of the war and should 
be treated in the spirit of that general amnesty which is 
fast blotting out the transgressions of that period. 

Now, with the principle laid down by Montesquieu 
in his Spirit of Laws, that— 

'It is not profitable for republics to deal harshly with 
those who may rebel against its authority; that it is more 
advisable to exceed in lenity than severity; to banish but 
few rather than many; and to leave them their estates in- 
stead of making a vast number of confiscations; that the 
object is not to destroy the rebel, but the rebellion — ' 

all will agree. And it is to the lasting credit of this Am- 
erican Republic that, when the surrender came, blood 
ceased to flow. Not a political execution followed. But 
this principle of Montesquieu does not apply to the case 
before us. For the man who, in the face of the world, 
stands up in battle for his flag there may be room for re- 
spect, even though it be the flag of rebellion. But what 
shall be said of this man who stood coolly by and gave 
the enemy a victory rather than help his superior officer 
whom he did not like? What shall be said of this man 
whom the slaughter of his friends did not move? 

Were this gray-haired old man, who some think has 
been sufficiently punished already, to confess his error 
and ask to be relieved from a punishment greater than 
he could bear, the appeal might arouse compassion, even 
though this body were powerless, as it is, to relieve. 
But that is not the attitude of Fitz-John Porter. He 
comes justifying, not confessing. He demands restora- 
tion to his place in the Army from which he claims to 

73 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

have been wrongfully thrust out by the unjust judgment 
of a court-martial. He does not ask mercy. He de- 
mands justice. But justice cries out against him. The 
law cries out against him. The Army and Navy, both 
officers and men, cry out against him. The millions who 
upheld the flag in the late civil struggle cry out against 
him. Three hundred thousand veteran soldiers who 
fought for the preservation of the Union cry out against 
him. The disembodied spirits of those who fell on the 
29th of August, 1862, cry out against him; as 

'They wheel in airy echelon 
From pass and height and plain. 
To form upon that bloody ground 
Their scattered ranks again.' 

The martyred Lincoln and the martyred Garfield, 
both of whom sat in judgment upon this man; and one of 
whom said "the case would have justified the sentence of 
death," cry out from the silent chambers of the dead 
against him. 

In the name of good government and for the sake of 
legislative decency let us hope that the law may not be 
outraged and justice mocked by the passage of this bill, 
against which stands the solemn protest of both the liv- 
ing and the dead." 

OLEOMARGARINE 

General Grout's speech in favor of the bill taxing ole- 
omargarine May 25th, 1886, received the frequent ap- 
plause of the House. The following is an extract from 
it: 

"If oleomargarine be the poor man's blessing, as is 
claimed, it should be secured to him at the poor man's 
price. But this will never be till compelled, as proposed 
by this bill, to go upon the market in no guise but its 
own and under no name but its own. As oleomargarine 

74 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



it will pay the tax proposed by this bill and then reach 
the poor man's table at a much less cost than it now does, 
if indeed it be fit to eat. It now sells for the price of 
butter, at from twenty to thirty cents per pound, and 
leaves the poor man without the blessing which it false- 
ly promises him. It thus gathers in $25,000,000 ill gotten 
gains annually, the very harvest of fraud itself, and at 
the same time strikes a staggering blow at an honest in- 
dustry in which millions of the working men and women 
of this country now gain only a hard-earned livelihood. 
And this is oleomargarine, an acknowledged counterfeit! 
but deceitfully passed for the true; intrenched behind the 
millions it has filched from the people in the name of 
butter; false to its promises to the poor; the disturber of 
of our industries; the very embodiment of falsehood and 
fraud. And yet this false-faced monster sits with us 
familiarly at table in the dress of an old friend and 
makes his oily way into the very citadel of man's affect- 
ions! Then, if in the silent watches of the night the 
stomach becomes suspicious that it may be 'entertaining 
an angel unawares' and yearns for information as to the 
character of this nocturnal visitor, which the friends of 
oleomargarine tell us comes as an angel laden with bless- 
ings for the race, it is respectfully referred to the Patent 
Office reports! (Laughter.) 

Volume 5 is taken down and opened to page 329, and 
the poor benighted stomach asks if the angel was made 
under patent No. 148767, which is as follows: "This sub- 
stitute for butter 'consists of a base of yolk of eggs, but- 
ter, and milk, agitated in a zinc vessel that has been 
coated with a solution of niter.' But hearing no re- 
sponse,it takes down volume 22 and opens to page 1489 
and reads in patent No. 266777 this formula for making 
a 'substitute for butter' 'consisting of cotton-seed oil or 

75 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Other vegetable oils treated with a solution of caustic 
soda in combination with farinaceous flour, which had 
previously been thoroughly cooked in salt water as des- 
cribed; incorporating and agitating the mass working in 
the oil, milk, coloring, and flavoring as per process de- 
scribed.' But still there is no response. There can be no 
certainty of the parentage of the child in this patent; and 
lest the wondering stomach may find some worse for- 
mula for the manufacture of angels, it takes down vol- 
ume 28 and looks hopefully for the pedigree of its par- 
ticular guest in patent No. 301782, found on page 173: 

'The process consists in first forming a soap emul- 
sion of the fats or fatty oils with caustic soda; then pre- 
cipitate the lyesi then applying chlorinated alkaline lye, 
or chlorinated gas, to the soap emulsion, as described. 

But this formula is found to be so full of lyes (lies) 
and sounds so much hke a receipt for making soap that 
the bewildered stomach abandons the inquiry, declaring 
in tones of astonishment that oleomargarine is, indeed, 
the mystery of mysteries — a far profounder mystery 
than hash or sausage. (Laughter.) 

Let not this sad tale of a child without a father di- 
vert attention from the fact— let it rather fix the mind 
upon it— that so long as bastard butter is sold for the 
genuine no purchaser can be sure but that he is eating 
it, nor can he be sure either of what ingredients it may 
be composed. It presents the well-known condition of 
every illegitimate birth, namely an uncertain paternity; 
and as a doubtful place in the pedigree may let in bad 
blood, so uncertainty as to the ingredients of counterfeit 
butter admits the possibility that they may be unclean 
and unwholesome. 



76 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



GENERAL STANNARD'S WIDOW 

General Grout's speech in behalf of the bill to pen- 
sion the widow of General Stannard was an appreciative 
presentation of the services of Vermont's great soldier 
and the proper claims of his family on the gratitude of 
the nation. The result was that she was granted a pen- 
sion of $1200 a year. Mrs. Stannard was a paralytic, 
had a daughter who was a hopeless invalid and was 
wholly without means of support. 

In the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress 
General Grout introduced six bills including one to en- 
able the people to name their postmasters. 

During this short session he delivered set speeches 
on some matters pertaining to the District of Columbia 
School Board and on the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion bill. The former was a matter of much local but no 
general interest; but in the course of his remarks on this 
subject he gave expression to this sentiment, which we 
suspect was new. We do not recall ever having seen it 
before. 

I am for the under dog in the fight 
Unless the upper dog is clearly right. 

The speech on the bill to establish Agricultural Ex- 
periment Stations in connection with colleges in the dif- 
ferent states fostered by act of Congress, the Morrill Act, 
was delivered Tuesday, March 1st, 1887. Here are the 
closing sentences: 

EXPERIMENT STATIONS SPEECH 

"This is one of the most important measures, if not 
the most important, which has engaged the attention of 
this Congress. It takes by the forelock the problem 
which is now perplexing the older nations of the earth, 
and which sooner or later will be brought home to the 

77 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

■ IIIWlO ■> ■■ ■■ ■— ■• ■■— !■■■ ■ ■■ ■■■■ M — L iW— .11 ■■ — il ■■ —I ■■———»»■■ I 1 I " 

American people, viz: How to subsist a dense popula- 
tion upon land that has been a long time cropped. It 
will not be forgotten that population is a prime element 
of empire, but with population comes always the pro- 
blem of food and raiment and shelter. And that legisla- 
tion is always wisest and best which deals with these 
questions fundamentally and in a way to prevent threat- 
ening dangers rather than to wait until those dangers 
are rife. The Experiment Station assisted by chemistry, 
the handmaid of agriculture, in looking into the hidden 
processes of nature, which work it is set to do, can hard- 
ly fail to glean information, and perchance make discov- 
eries which shall overcome nature and make her contrib- 
ute in some new way to the support of man; and as not- 
ably as did the five schools of chemistry to which Napo- 
leon under the advice of Talleyrand, assigned the duty 
of finding out how to make beet sugar. He offered 
1,000,000 francs to the chemist who should succeed, 
which straightway brought success, and today more than 
one-half of the entire sugar product of the whole world 
is made from the beet." 

The bill became a law, and its wisdom and value has 
never been questioned. 

THE 50th CONGRESS 

In this Congress General Grout was appointed on 
the following committees: District of Columbia and Le- 
vees and Improvements of the Mississippi River. Dur- 
ing the first session he introduced thirtx-six bills; also a 
vast number of petitions and papers on a wide range of 
subjects. 

General Grout's speeches during this session were 
on Anatomical Science in the District of Columbia, on 
the election of Fourth Class Postmasters by the people, 

78 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



on the suppression of lottery advertisements in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia and on the tariff. 

The speech on his bill to enable the people to name 
their postmasters was a clear presentation of the 
equity, fairness and justice of his plan, and can be found 
on page 4546 and following of the Record. An extract 
follows: 

ELECTION OF POSTMASTERS SPEECH 

"All will admit that the capture of the offices is alto- 
gether too much of an issue and intensifies too much 
our Presidential elections, which ought to result in the 
calm, deliberate choice of the best men coupled with the 
best political principles. This bill, if it should become a 
law, would strike out of the Presidential problem at a 
single blow, fifty-two thousand of these offices.and the very 
ones, too, over which the scramble is the most disgrace- 
ful, because appointments to them are made in the most 
irresponsible manner. They are also the very offices 
which enter most largely into the presidential contest* 
scattered, as they are, over the whole country and carry i| 

ing, as they do, the greedy spirit of conquest into every " 

hamlet throughout the land. What other machine in 
fact equals the Post Office in the small country village or 
at the crossroads in the manufacture of politics? Each 
presidential election hatches half a dozen aspirants in 
each party for every such office. And after the contest 
is over, he gets the office at the crossroads who has burn- 
ed the most powder and gets the best hold upon the lo- 
cal boss. And so at last there is an outcome of the pres- 
idential election. For this quadrennial scandal so far as 
relates to the Fourth Class post oflfices, this bill offers a 
perfect cure." 

Just and sensible as this measure was, the average 

79 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 
■ ■■ » ^ ' 

member of Congress was unwilling to give up his control 
of the Post Offices and as a result the bill did not be- 
come a law. It is well known, however, that General 
Grout put in force the principles of the bill in his dis- 
trict and was always governed in the choice of postmas- 
ters by the patrons of the office. 

His speech on the tariff was delivered May 15, 1888,. 
and in it was an interesting passage between Mr. Grout 
and Gov. McCreary as follows: 

VERMONT AND KENTUCKY 

"And here, just a word before I sit down, in reply to 
my friend, the gentleman from Kentucky, Governor Mc- 
Creary, who, to show the good standing of his State, 
compared her to the little State which I have the honor 
in part to represent. How so large a boy as Kentucky 
could expect any very great credit by pitching into such 
a little fellow as Vermont I could not then understand 
and shall have still to leave to the gentleman from Ken- 
tucky to decide for himself. The point he made was 
that Vermont came a little first into the Union, had been 
a protection State, and now had but two members on 
this floor, while Kentucky had eleven. And hence, if 
Kentucky had been a laggard, as the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, Judge Kelley, charged, Vermont was 
another, and a worse one. 

To begin with, let me say, as accounting in part for 
Kentucky's superior numbers in this body, that it will be 
seen that with less than five times the population of Ver- 
mont she has one more than five times the members. 
This is because Vermont has a large unrepresented rem- 
nant, while the remnants of Kentucky are all here. The 
question raised by the gentleman as to the comparative 
standing of these two States cannot be confined to area 

80 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



and population alone. If that were all, it would be dis- 
posed of by saying: Behold! Forty thousand square 
miles is more than 9,135, and 1,648,690 population is a 
greater number than 332,268. This in itself would carry 
but little information. The real question is, according 
to her area and population, is Kentucky more or less of 
a State than Vermont? Certain figures from the Tenth 
Census are full of instruction on this point. 

From them it appears, among other things, that with 
four and one-third times the area of Vermont, Kentucky 
has only three and one-half times as many acres of farm 
lands, which are worth only two and eight-tenths times 
as much. In other words, Vermont farm lands are val- 
ued at $33 per acre, while Kentucky farm lands are val- 
ued at only $27 per acre. It also appears that Vermont 
is greater, not relatively, but actually greater in grass 
than this blue-grass State of Kentucky, for in 1880 she 
cut five times as many tons of hay, and considering the 
great fame of the blue-grass lands of Kentucky, this 
ought to speak fairly well for the hillsides of Vermont. 

Not only is Vermont ahead in grass, but she is a long 
way ahead in the production per acre of com, wheat, 
and oats. The average, as shown from the ten years 
from 1876 to 1886, is as follows: 

1880 Vermont Kentucky 

Bushels of wheat per acre 14.8 9.6 

Average home price per bushel . $1.10 .72 

Average value per acre $20.91 $8.03 

Bushels of corn per acre 35.5 26.7 

Average home price per bushel . .66 .34 

Average value per acre $21.66 $8.58 

Bushels of oats per acre 34.5 20.2 

Average home price per bushel . .37 .32 

Average value per acre $13.34 $6,72 

81 



MEMOI R OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT • 

In passing, let us hastily draw one or two conclu- 
sions from these figures: Moral No. 1 is that Kentucky 
and every other free-trade State should profit by this bet- 
ter style of farming in a State where the people believe 
in protection. That they should develop their re- 
sources and create for themselves home markets for 
the sale of their agricultural products; Moral No. 2 is 
that Vermont farmers should understand that they are 
doing better than is done in States the fame of which is 
far greater; that they have a right to be proud of Ver- 
mont, and, to save her from the reproach of a small dele- 
gation in Congress, should stick by her and help swell 
her population, 

Mr. McCreary. Will the gentleman from Vermont 
allow me — 

Mr. Grout. I cannot yield, because my time has al- 
most expired, but will listen to a question. 

Mr. McCreary. I wanted to make a single state- 
ment in justice to myself. On the 1st of May I was re- 
plying to the speech of the gentleman from Pennsylva- 
nia, (Mr. Kelley)— 

Mr. Grout. I cannot yield to the gentleman to in- 
terject a speech into mine, but will yield for a question. 

Mr. McCreary. Will the gentleman inform me 
whether you have any public fund for education in Ver- 
mont, and whether you have any institution for the deaf 
and dumb? I assert you have none. 

Mr. Grout. I cannot yield, but will say Vermont 
has a school fund, but needs no institution for the deaf 
and dumb. Her people all talk and frequently hear 
more than they want to. 

Mr. McCreary. Or whether you had an insane asy- 
lum in Vermont until 1836? 

82 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



Mr. Grout. There is no better asylum for the in- 
sane anywhere in the United States than at Brattleboro, 
Vt. It has patrons from all over the country, and I pre- 
sume some are there from Kentucky. It would be a 
good place for free-traders. 

Mr. McCreary. I want to ask the gentleman from 
Vermont one more question. 

Mr. Grout. Very well; I yield for a single question. 

Mr. McCreary. If the population of Vermont at the 
beginning of the century was 152,000 and that of Ken- 
tucky 158,000, and if now the population of Vermont is 
332,000 and that of Kentucky 1,648,000 do you not con- 
cede that those figures show greater progress in Ken- 
tucky than in Vermont? 

Mr. Grout. It shows, perhaps that the people are 
more prolific in Kentucky, though I am hardly willing to 
admit that. The true ground, aside from area, on which 
to account for this difference in population is that large 
numbers of our people go West. We have in fact, a lar- 
ger population outside of Vermont than in it, and I have 
constituents all over the West. Only yesterday I was 
called on by two gentlemen, one a Vermonter in lUinois, 
another in Wisconsin, who, though strangers to me, have 
not lost their interest in Vermont. 

Mr. McCreary. I want to ask the gentleman from 
Vermont a very short question. It is this: Does not 
protection reach Kentucky as well as Vermont? 

(Here the hammer fell.) 

Mr. Chairman. The time of the gentleman from 
Vermont has expired. 

Mr. Grout. I want only a few minutes more, and 
will then answer all questions. 

Mr. McCreary. I ask that the gentleman have addi- 
tional time. 



83 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

There was no objection. 

Mr. McCreary. Now, if the gentleman will permit 
me to repeat my questions, I ask him if that protection 
he speaks of, and which he says has done so much for 
Vermont, does not prevail in Kentucky and all over the 
United States? 

Mr. Grout. Certainly, only you do not believe in it; 
do not improve your opportunities. But I am only giv- 
ing you facts and figures, and on your own ground, too, 
for you said Vermont had all the time been a protection 
State, but was behind. All I have to say is that these 
figures show what a people who believe in protection and 
practice its economy can do. 

Mr. McCreary. But we believe we have prospered 
so well with protection that without the robbery which 
protection brings we would be more prosperous. But I 
deny that your figures and comparisons are correct. 

Mr. Grout. The figures are taken from the Tenth 
Census. Those relating to the relative corn, wheat, and 
oat crop came from the Agricultural Department, and 
those relating to the late war from the War Department. 
There is no escape from the figures. 

Another noticeable thing in the table below is, that 
though Kentucky has almost twice as many milch cows, 
yet Vermont actually makes the most butter and cheese 
— one and a half times as much butter and twenty-seven 
times as much cheese. In Vermont 115 pounds of but- 
ter are made from each cow, in Kentucky 60 pounds. 
This shows the difference between a people who believe 
in protection and one that believes in free trade. As ex- 
plaining this in part, the table shows that Kentucky has 
one hundred and ninety-five dealers in oleomargarine 
while Vermont has none. 

Instead of stripping her cows and making butter and 

84 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



cheese, Kentucky eats oleomargarine and grows eloquent 
over "the markets of the world." (Laughter.) 

Not only do Vermont fields wave with grass and 
grain and the cows give down their milk in that protec^ 
tion State, but the sheep also know their friends, and 
yield 5^ pounds per head of wool in Vermont, but only 
4 pounds per head in Kentucky, whose statesmen think 
the place for wool is on the free-list. Thus far Vermont 
is ahead, but candor compels me to admit that there are 
three things in which Kentucky takes the lead, namely, 
illiterates, saloons, and mules and asses. (Laughter.) 

Vermont's per cent of illiterates is 8.68; Kentucky's, 
36.79. In Vermont there is one saloon for every 667 pop- 
ulation; in Kentucky one for every 445. Vermont has 
283 mules and asses; Kentucky, 116,153. (Laughter and 
applause.) 

These figures also show that with one-fifth the popu- 
lation Vermont has more than one-half the capital in 
manufactures. And yet she is an inland mountain State, 
with neither coal nor iron. Give her the one-hundredth 
part of the coal and iron of Kentucky and she would 
show you what could be done with it. Think of it! Ten 
thousand square miles in one coal field, a larger area 
than all Vermont, and 4000 in another. This ought to 
make Kentucky mistress of the Southwest. Some one 
has said that coal is empire, and on this formula, that 
coal is heat, heat is power, and power is empire. Let 
but Kentucky set herself about the development of her 
iron and coal and the creation of home markets for the 
sale of her agricultural products, and a more than regal 
crown awaits her in the day of her industrial activity, 
now near at hand. Indeed, the Hght is already breaking 
on her hilltops and she is stirring herself for the morn- 
ing. She already has three Republican members on this 

85 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

floor who are staunch believers in the doctrine of pro- 
tection as taught by that great Kentuckian, Henry Clay, 
and the returns are still coming in. (Applause.) 

This speech attracted much well deserved attention. 

At the close of the second session he was appointed 
a member of the House Committee to attend the Centen- 
nial Celebration of the Inauguration of the first Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

THE 51st CONGRESS 
THE MAPLE SUGAR BOUNTY 

In the Fifty-first Congress, beginning March 4, 1889, 
General Grout was a member of the Committee on Edu- 
cation and chairman of the Committee on the District of 
Columbia. 

During the first session of this Congress he intro- 
duced fifty bills and joint resolutions. 

General Grout's speeches during this session were 
all — with the notable exception of that on the Maple Su- 
gar Bounty proposition— on matters connected with the 
administration of the affairs of the District of Columbia. 
The chairman of this committee occupies a position sim- 
ilar to that of mayor of self-governing cities, and his du- 
ties in this capacity leave him very little time for other 
work. 

Among the District of Columbia bills of large im- 
portance handled by him was one which provided for the 
purchase of the large area comprising what is known as 
Rock Creek Park, which passed the House and became a 
law. This was a work of far-reaching importance to the 
city and the general public as it provides for the perpet- 
ual use by the public of one of the largest public parks 
in the country and one of rare scenic beauty. 

He also made a fight against the encroachments of 

86 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



the tracks of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in the 
vicinity of its terminal in the city, to the end that the rights 
of the city might be preserved and the safety of the pub- 
lie assured. Aprovision to accomplish this was moved and 
carried through the House by him, but later was recon> 
sidered during his illness and absence from the House. 

Another bill of great importance to the District 
which he secured the passage of, was that under which 
the savings institutions and trust companies have since 
organized and now represent a capital of many millions 
of dollars. These companies are today the leading finan- 
cial institutions of the city. 

It was during this Congress that the McKinley tar- 
iff bill became a law, which put sugar on the free list and 
protected the domestic product by a bounty. 

The bill when reported gave a bounty on all Ameri- 
can sugars but maple. General Grout had been an ad- 
vocate from the first of a bounty on maple sugar and 
had collected much data bearing on the subject. He in- 
tended when the bill came up in the House to move an 
amendment extending the bounty to the maple product. 
But meantime he fell seriously ill with pneumonia and 
sent his data to his colleague, Governor Stewart, who re- 
presented the First District, with a request that he at- 
tend to it. Governor Stewart did not approve of the 
bounty provision on principle and so stated on the floor, 
but made the motion and put it on the ground that if 
other sugars had a bounty maple also ought to have it. 
The motion was lost, but how it would have been could 
the Governor have advocated it from conviction no one 
can tell. But one thing is certain. General Grout, though 
dangerously ill, took every precaution possible for its 
success. At his request Mr. McKinley called at his sick 
room. The General told him Governor Stewart was go- 

87 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ing to make the motion and asked him to accept it. But 
McKinley said he could not do that, but would not op- 
pose it and did not; still the motion failed. In the Sen- 
ate the amendment was moved by Senator Edmunds, 
and in conference was left in the bill and became a law,, 
and before it was repealed brought nearly two hundred 
thousand dollars to the maple sugar makers of Vermont. 

At the second session of the Fifty-first Congress, 
from December 1st, 1890, to March 4, 1891, General 
Grout had recovered his health and was in constant at- 
tendance. In consequence, however, of his incessant la- 
bors on the District Committee and in other directions, 
he was at his own request excused from service on the 
Committee on Education, and devoted his whole time 
and energy to the District Committee. 

During this session nearly all the public measures 
inaugurated by him had reference exclusively to matters 
in the District of Columbia, the notable exception being 
the bill to establish a fish hatchery in Vermont, the be- 
ginning of the Government Hatchery at St. Johnsbury. 
This bill was introduced by General Grout January 12th, 
1891, and the next session became a law on the Sundry 
Civil Appropriation Bill. 

THE 52nd CONGRESS 

In the Fifty-second Congress General Grout was ap- 
pointed to the Committee on Appropriations and on Ex- 
penditures in the Interior Department. The Democrats 
were then in control of the House, and Crisp, of Georgia, 
was spealjer. With this Congress, December 7th, 1891, 
began General Grout's service on the great Committee 
on Appropriations where he continued to the end of his 
congressional career. In order to comprehend the great 
importance of this committee it is proper to say that a 

88 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



position on it is considered in Congressional usage equal 
to the chairmanship of any other committee of the 
House except Ways and Means. The vast scope of the 
labors of this committee and their exacting and contin- 
uous nature precludes the possibility of very much other 
committee work. He was second on the committee 
when he retired from Congress. 

At this session General Grout was also appointed a 
member of a special committee of Members of the House 
to investigate certain charges against the House collect- 
ively, and Representative Cobb, of Alabama, in particu- 
lar, in a book published by Representative Watson, of 
Georgia, in which Members were accused of gross in- 
toxication on the floor of the House. The basis of the 
charge appears to have been the celebrated question of 
Representative Cobb, of Alabama, "Where was I at, Mr. 
Speaker?" 

Watson specifically charged Cobb with intoxication. 
The committee made a careful investigation of the 
charges and submitted three reports. One was signed 
by the three Democratic members of the committee, and 
one each by Representative Jerry Simpson for the Popu- 
lists and General Grout for the Republicans. The whole 
matter was finally settled by the " adoption by the full 
committee, except Jerry Simpson, of the resolution 
which General Grout recommended in his report as the 
proper one to be adopted. 

In the first session of this Congress General Grout 
introduced thirty-eight bills and joint resolutions. 

During the first session of the Fifty-second Congress 
General Grout prepared and delivered speeches on these 
subjects: 

District of Columbia taxation. 



89 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Fortification Appropriation Bill. 

Pension Appropriation Bill. 

Pension Office Investigation. 

Against relief of the heirs of Henry W. Sibley, (the 
Sibley tent claim.) 

Against putting wool on the free list. 

In favor of a Military Post in Vermont. 

On Volunteer Army Records. 

General Grout's speech on the fortification bill was 
an earnest argument for a suitable appropriation to car- 
ry out the estimates of the War Department for sea 
coast defences. The Democratic majority, however, 
"economized" in the matter, and left the Department 
seriously crippled. 

In the matter of the Pension Appropriation Bill Gen- 
eral Grout's speech was in opposition to a cut by the 
committee of nearly twelve million dollars from the es- 
timates of the bureau as being necessary for the pay- 
ment of pensions. He led the Republican minority 
against the proposed reduction and in opposition to 
other attacks on the pension system by the majority in a 
hot and stubborn fight, which occupies fifteen pages of 
the Record of that session, beginning with page 1777. 
The bill passed with no increase and went to the Senate 
where it was amended, as General Grout had contended 
for in the House, and was finally passed carrying the ad- 
ditional sum. General Grout was one of the House con- 
ferees and while he did not have his way in the Demo- 
cratic House to begin with he did at last, and the full 
sum asked for by the Pension Bureau for pensions was 
appropriated. 

In the matter of the Sibley tent claim for some 
$120,000 General Grout vigorously opposed it. The bill 
after being up in the House on eight different days was 

90 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



finally laid on the table on his motion. Here is an ex- 
tract from the speech: 

SIBLEY TENT SPEECH 

"Now, Mr. Chairman, I say, that Sibley did give no- 
tice by his act, such notice as any court would recognize 
and hold sufficient. With this man in arms against the 
Government what had it a right to understand about this 
contract? Do you suppose the Government went on 
manufacturing tents understanding that it was to con- 
tinue paying a royalty of $5 apiece upon them. The idea 
is preposterous. This man had gone into rebellion and 
severed every relation between himself and his Govern- 
ment; he was a traitor to his country and entitled to re- 
ceive nothing from it but punishment, or, if the Govern- 
ment chose, a pardon; and the idea is monstrous that 
rights could have accrued to him under this contract 
while that relation existed. 

It may be said that this is a fine point. Yes; but 
those who are trained in legal niceties as well as the un- 
trained will far more easily comprehend this than the 
other proposition, which is so repugnant not only to law, 
but to justice, viz, that while the relation which I have 
described existed between these parties, a contract was 
still subsisting under which rights accrued to this man 
to which he could be restored by a pardon. To properly 
carry out the purpose of this bill the title should be 
amended so as to read: "A bill to extend the pardon of 
Henry H. Sibley and restore to him that which he never 
had." 

Mr. Chairman, every old soldier remembers the Sib- 
ley tent; nor has he forgotten the story in every camp 
throughout the Union Army of how this man had aban- 
doned the Union cause and a lucrative contract with the 

91 



M EMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Government and gone over to the enemy. There was 
admiration for his courage, but small respect for his 
judgment and none at all for the man himself who had 
thus ungratefully turned against the Government which 
had educated and conferred rank and honor upon him. 
"Many a time and oft" this was all talked over in many 
a Sibley tent while the campfires burned brightly with- 
out and the boys were now jolly and now sober and 
thoughtful within. 

Yes, this is a picture of what frequently happened at 
the front and what do you suppose the boys would have 
then said had they been told that this man, who on the 
morrow would be shooting them down, this man with the 
traitor's brand upon him would, within twenty years af- 
ter the Government had granted him al free pardon and 
saved him from a traitor's doom, come to the American 
Congress with a claim for $5 royalty on the tent in which 
they were then sitting? I will tell you what they would 
have said. They would have said, "Take away this tent, 
comfortable as it is, and leave us beneath the pure can- 
opy of heaven, on which this traitor can have no royal- 
ty." (Applause.) 

And what will these old soldiers, or such of them 
as still survive, say today when told that upon this 
floor it is argued, nay, asserted, that through the hocus- 
pocus of a pardon this claim is a legal one, except for 
the statute of limitations, which has run on it only five 
times; and that the claim is so manifestly just that we 
ought to remove the statute bar and pay this man's heirs 
this large sum of money? Mr. Chairman, I repeat, what 
would these old soldiers say? How could they help ex- 
claiming, 'O Temporal O Mores!' How also can they 
help exclaiming, 'Oh, the mysteries of the law!' and the 
legerdemain of those expounding it when they undertake 

92 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



to prostitute its holy office to this unholy purpose here in 
this Hall, in the very temple of its birth, where loyalty 
should be honored and the spirit of liberty and justice 
should preside. (Applause.) 

Mr. Chairman, I think it quite clear to every judi- 
cial mind that this claim is really destitute of legal 
grounds on which to rest, when the rules of the common 
and of international law are applied, saying nothing of 
the statute of limitations, which declares it five times a 
stale claim and unworthy in law to be investigated. It 
fails also in those elements of equity and justice which 
plead for the allowance of many claims growing out of 
the war of doubtful legality, like the use of churches or 
institutions of learning for hospitals, and the like; also 
for the relief of persons in extreme distress, for which 
the Government was perhaps impliedly responsible, and 
for which, in this era of good feeling, we have all some- 
times voted. 

I say this claim lacks all these elements, and besides, 
it seems to fall within the prohibition of a resolution 
adopted by Congress in 1867, which appears to have been 
overlooked thus far in the discussion." 

During the Second Session of the Fifty-second Con- 
gress, beginning December 5th, 1892, General Grout in- 
troduced ten bills. 

It was during this session that General Grout got 
through the House, as an amendment to the Sundry Ci- 
vil bill, the provision creating a Military Post at some 
point in North-Eastern Vermont, which resulted in the 
establishment of Fort Ethan Allen. The scheme was 
one of Senator Proctor's, but the care of it in the House, 
(a Democratic House), devolved on General Grout who, 
after varying fortunes, brought it to a successful issue 

93 



iPH 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

through the Committee on Appropriations of which he 
was a member. This Post has already brought hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars into the state and will bring 
many more. 

PENSION BUREAU 

General Grout's famous speech on the Democratic 
administration of the Pension Office was delivered in the 
House Friday, March 2d, 1894. It was a most exhaust- 
ive and comprehensive analysis of Democratic methods 
and consequences in the administration of the Pension 
Bureau, bristling with pointed facts and scorching pas- 
sages. No synopsis or quotation could do it justice. As 
an indication of what was thought of it by the Republic- 
an party it is only necessary to say that a half million 
copies of this speech were printed and distributed by the 
Republican campaign committee in the campaign then 
being hotly contested. Only one speech, that of Tom 
Reed on the tariff, had a larger circulation, and his only 
exceeded it by 5000 copies. Following is a brief extract 
from the closing portion: 

PENSION BUREAU SPEECH 

"But, Mr. Chairman, enough; there is much more I 
would like to say, but I must hasten to a close. 

The glimpse we have of the workings of the Pension 
Office is largely from the outside, and necessarily quite 
general in character; but the results, well authenticated, 
stand out in bold relief. The methods, however, by 
which these results are reached, beyond the outline I 
have been able to give, are necessarily withdrawn from 
public gaze, and so not the subject of general discussion. 
The details of each day's work we shall never know. 

But, Mr. Chairman, if the 

RECORDING ANGEL 
94 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



were of this world, and could make public a full report 
daily of all the details of this Pension Office assessment 
of the old soldier, with the number of pensions reduced 
and the amount with the number allowed and the per 
cent cut off and passed to the deficiency fund, with the 
number dropped from the rolls, and the number rejected 
with the grand aggregate saved to the Treasury; and 
were also at the same time to tell us how many soldiers' 
homes this cold. Democratic winter are short of fuel, food 
and clothing, and hopelessly so, too, for work there is 
none— I say, if the recording angel could lay all this be- 
fore us in sickening detail each day, am I extravagant in 
saying that an outraged public sentiment would de- 
nounce in thunder tones in the first place this 'tariff-re- 
form' policy, the very thought of which has emptied the 
Treasury; and in the second place this 'pension-reform' 
policy which cooly divides the bounty, the real heart-off- 
ering of the American people to the defenders of the flag, 
between them and the empty mismanaged treasury? 
<Applause on the Republican side. ) 

I know the amount paid for pensions is large, and 
the Government is sadly in need of money, but better 
borrow to meet all obligations, and especially those to 
the veterans of the late war, than to have it go down in 
history that on final settlement between the Government 
and the preservers of the Union the Government 
brought in this juggler's rule in arithmetic, that twice 6 
make 8 and twice 8 make 10. 

PENSION EXPENDITURE JUSTIFIED 

Yes, the amount paid for pensions is large. This bill 
carries more than three times as much as is appropriated 
for our Army and Navy. 

But our war, navy and pension appropriations all 

95 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

combined are not very much larger than Great Britain 
expends on her army and far less, some $70,000,000 less 
than is expended by Germany and some $25,000,000 or 
$30,000,000 less than by France; and that, too, with this 
great difference that in those countries this is a continu- 
ing expense, running with the life of the nation, is in 
fact essential to its preservation; while with us the ex- 
penditure for pensions is only for a brief period, for a 
single generation, till the veterans shall have passed 
away and then it is forever a patriotic fund at more than 
compound interest. It is in fact a magnificent monu- 
ment of the gratitude of a free people to the volunteer 
soldiery of the Republic; and so long as this Government 
shall stand its munificent reward of its citizen soldiery, 
upon which free government must always rely, will fur- 
nish the highest possible assurance of its future safety 
in the hour of peril." (Applause on the Republican 
side.) 

Likewise during this session was delivered General 
Grout's strong speech against putting wool on the free 
hst, it being entitled "the protective tariff and the farm- 
er." Students of tariff laws and political economy con- 
sider this speech at least as thorough and forceful a 
presentation of this broad subject as was ever made in a 
political or legislative discussion. It was used largely as 
a campaign document, and was considered by the Re- 
publican leaders a strong and convincing presentation of 
their side of the argument. The speech occupies eight 
pages of the Record for that session, and is worthy of a 
careful reading and study by every Vermont farmer. 
Following are the closing paragraphs of it: 

PROTECTIVE TARIFF SPEECH 

"And yet the Democratic party, with unequaled au- 
96 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



dacity and strange disregard of the truth, constantly 
tells the farmer that the protective tariff as handled by 
the Republican party is his deadly enemy; that it gives 
him no protection, but eats out his substance with hate- 
ful taxes which go, not into the public Treasury, but in- 
to the pockets of 

THE ROBBER BARONS, 

the manufacturers of iron and steel and woolen goods; 
yes, woolen goods; and that these manufacturers are roll- 
ing in wealth which has been largely filched from the 
farmer class, and yet this same Democratic party which 
makes this terrible arraignment of the manufacturer, 
finding wool one of the principal products of the farm, 
protected by a duty of 11 cents per pound which gives 
every producer of a pound of domestic wool 11 cents ad- 
vantage in our markets over the foreign product, pro- 
poses to take away entirely this protection for the hard- 
working farmer, for whom the Democratic party is just 
now overflowing with professions of affection, by putting 
wool on the free list. 

And why? For the benefit of the woolen manufac- 
turers What! these "robber barons?" Yes, these same 
"robber barons," who the Democratic party has sudden- 
ly discovered need free wool to make their business prof- 
itable, not caring for its disastrous effects upon one of 
the farmer's principal pursuits. They complacently tell 
the farmer that this is done out of pure love for him; 
that he will really be greatly benefited by it; that he 
will have cheaper clothing. 

But a single glance will show how much there is to 
this. A suit of clothes of average medium weight con- 
tains just about Ay^ pounds of wool. 

97 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Free wool would work a saving of the princely sum 
of idyz cents on his suit of clothes. This is really too tri- 
fling to be mentioned, and yet it is all the comfort that 
the free trader can offer the farmer for free wool. 

But the most noticeable thing in this business is the 
glaring inconsistency between the ferocious assaults 
heretofore made by the Democracy upon the manufactur- 
ers and this bill putting wool on the free list for their 
benefit. And we naturally ask, What means this sudden 
change in the Democratic heart? 

I will tell you what it means, and at the same time 
what it does not mean. It does not mean any real friend- 
ship for the manufacturer; but does mean that there is 
"method in the madness" of the free trader, who fancies 
that by throwing this sop to the manufacturers of Mass- 
achusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecti- 
cut, these States may possibly declare for a Democratic 
President next fall. 

This is the first point. Then when he has used the 
manufacturer of woolen goods to secure free wool, he 
will be ready to use the farmer to secure free manufac- 
tured goods. He knows that this will surely be demand- 
ed by the farmer if there be free wool. 

I would commend to such manufacturers as are help- 
ing the free trader to get free wool the fable of the ser 
pent that was warmed by the fire Free trade has but 
one instinct, and that the deadly one of striking at pro- 
tection whenever and wherever it can. The manufactur- 
er is safe nowhere but in the protection fold. The free 
trader who is just now chanting to him the siren song of 
free raw materials, knows that free manufactured goods 
will surely follow. His Utopian dream is of free goods, 
free markets, and free inter ourse between all the peo- 
ples of all the earth. With i oi this is more than a mild 

98 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



mania of transitory form. It is a permanent mental con- 
dition. 

The manufacturer is a practical man and will be 
slow to make his bed with the imaginative free trader 
and part company with the steadfast, conscientious de- 
fenders of a system under which great prosperity has 
come not only to his business but to every other kind of 
business in the country. A system under which popula- 
tion has increased. States have multiplied, cities have 
sprung up like com blades, capital has accumulated, and, 
best of all, labor, more liberally rewarded than anywhere 
else on the face of the globe, is contented and happy. 
( Applause.) 

Mr. Chairman, the free-trade angler for help in the 
coming Presidential contest has misjudged the New Eng- 
land manufacturer. He will never swallow the free-trade 
hook until it is baited with something besides free raw 
materials. He will withstand the temptation. He will 
not help strike down his brother farmer, who, now that 
the Democratic party has thrown aside its mask, cannot 
fail to see how utterly hollow and hypocritical have been 
all Democratic pretensions of special friendship for him 
and his calling; nor can he fail to see that, equally with 
the manufacturer, he shares the full benefits of the pro- 
tective system, which provides for all classes and all pur- 
suits. Certainly he cannot fail to understand that in as- 
saulting his system the enemy has selected his interests 
as the point of attack, perhaps because his forces are 
scattered and lack organization. 

But I mistake the sturdy, independent spirit of Am- 
erican farmers if they fail to bestir themselves in de- 
fense. They are traditionally prompt in time of danger. 
Upon a time in Concord town— 



99 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

By the rude bridge that arched the flood. 
The flag to April's breeze unfurled. 
Here once the embattl'd farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The battle then was for political rights. It is now 
for industrial rights; and with the farmer it is for his 
flocks and his fields. As the farmer fired the first gun 
in 76, when the contest was between American inde- 
pendence and the kingly authority of Great Britain, so 
now will he be foremost in this struggle between the 
American protective system and British free trade. And 
as in that heroic day he said, "Let us keep this fair land 
for the benefit of Americans and subject only to their au- 
thority," so will he now say in the midst of the great in- 
dustrial achievements consequent upon thirty years of 
uninterrupted protection, "Let us continue this Ameri- 
can policy. Let us keep American markets for Ameri- 
can products." Then will every class of American citi- 
zens in supporting itself contribute to the support of every 
other class, and all classes will be prosperous and happy. 
Then will this great country, with every variety of soil 
and climate and production be, as nature planned it, self- 
sustaining and truly independent; and her material pros- 
perity and civic splendor, so great in the past, shall 
know no bounds in the future." (Prolonged applause.) 

During this Fifty-second Congress, which was noted 
for its pension legislation. General Grout was a large 
factor in securing the amendment by which no pension- 
er can receive less than $6 per month, regardless of rat- 
ing. It was only secured after a hot contest in confer- 
ence, of which General Grout was a member, and has 
since stood as the minimum amount of a pension allow- 
ance. 

100 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



THE 53rd CONGRESS 

In the Fifty-third Congress General Grout was a 
member of the Committees on Appropriations and on Ex- 
penditures in the Interior Department, as in the previous 
Congress. 

During the first session he introduced thirty-six bills; 
and prepared and made a strong argument in favor of 
the repeal of the silver purchase clause of the Sherman 
Act, so called, which disclosed a thorough knowledge of 
the whole subject of American bi-metalism. 

During the second session of the Fifty-third Con- 
gress, General Grout was almost continually engaged in 
committee work, the various great appropriation bills be- 
ing in process of incubation, but found time to prepare 
and deliver speeches in the House on the admission to 
statehood of Arizona, on the army and pension appropri- 
ation bills and on the tariff. As usual, he led his party 
on the floor of the House in its defence of liberal and 
proper pensions and against the assaults of the anti-pen- 
sion wing of the Democratic party, as he was still on the 
sub-committee on pensions. 

During the third session of the Fifty-third Congress 
General Grout accomplished a vast amount of general 
committee and routine work and also demonstrated his 
versatility and adaptability in legislation by preparing 
and delivering speeches on deep waterways, the District 
of Columbia Corporation law and the District of Colum- 
bia Public Library, the oleomargarine bill, the pension 
appropriation bill and another on current and pension 
legislation in general, on the death of Philip S. Post, on 
the statue of General, Stark, on the death of Senator 
Stockbridge, on the sugar bounty, on the Centennial Ex- 
position at Nashville and on the Washington Burnt Mills 
and Sandy Spring Railway Company. 

101 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

— fr n ■■ ■ ■! r Ml L ■ ■ ■■ -- ~ " ~ — ■ — 

During this session General Grout, by virtue of his 
position as leader of the minority of the committee, led 
the opposition to the Democratic raid on pensions, and 
the Pension Bureau in the discussion of the regular pen- 
sion appropriation bill. The Democratic majority was 
hilarious, and with Crisp, of Georgia as Speaker started 
in to "reform" everything connected with pensions. The 
sub-committee of the appropriations committee, which 
had charge of appropriations for pensions, was headed 
by Mutchler of Pennsylvania; and General Grout was 
the ranking Republican and ex-officio leader of the Re- 
publican minority on that subject. Among the innova- 
tions proposed was one to transfer the Bureau of Pen- 
sions from the Interior to the War Department, one to 
abolish all Pension Examining Boards and substitute for 
them medical examiners to be appointed and sent out by 
the Secretary of War, one providing that no pension 
shall be paid under the Act of 1890 unless the pensioner 
shall show that he is disabled from manual labor and al- 
so show by affidavit that his annual income is less than 
$600 per year, another that no woman should draw a pen- 
sion as a soldier's widow unless she had married him not 
more than five years after the close of the war. There 
were others of a like character, but under the leadership 
of General Grout every one of the many amendments 
were rejected. 

General Grout was on the floor day after day lead- 
ing the fight against these efforts to paralyze the pension 
system, and the result was one of the most conspicuous 
triumphs of his Congressional career. 

THE 54th CONGRESS 

In the Fifty-fourth Congress beginning December 
2d, 1895, General Grout was appointed by Speaker Reed 

102 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



to these Committees: Chairman of the Committees on 
Expenditures in the War Department and third on the 
Committee on Appropriations. He was offered the chair- 
manship of the District of Columbia Committee but pre- 
ferred to remain on Appropriations. 

During the first session he introduced twenty-six 
bills and joint resolutions. 

During this session General Grout delivered speech- 
es on the Coinage Redemption Fund, on Distributing Con- 
demned Cannon., on the Customs Deficiency Bill, on the 
French Spoliation Claims, on the St. Albans Public Build- 
ing Bill, on the Free Public Library Bill, and on different 
private pension bills. 

All the above, however, may be considered as inci- 
dental compared to his extended remarks on the District 
of Columbia Appropriation Bill in its passage through 
the House, and on the Conference reports on the same. 

His speech on the Coin Redemption Fund begins on 
page 2259 on the Record for this session, and was an in* 
teresting presentation of the facts relative to this subject 
of so large importance. Here is a quotation from this 
speech: 

COINAGE REDEMPTION SPEECH 

"But what is the prospect that the silver ox, truly in 
a most dilapidated condition just now, will ever again be 
able to take a healthy part in the work of the team? 

Mr. Chairman, it is most promising, indeed. It is 
found mostly in this single fact, viz, that the world's 
production of gold is rapidly increasing, while that of 
silver is remaining just about stationary. 

The world's product of gold in 1894 was $180,626,100, 
while in 1895 it was $200,000,000, a gain of almost 
$20,000,000 in a single year, while the commercial value 

103 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

of the world's product of silver in 1895 was just about the 
same as in 1894, viz, $106,522,900. 

In our own country, however, the change is far 
greater. There has been a steady decline in our silver 
output since 1892 from 63,500,000 ounces, worth 
$55,563,000 in that year, to 49,500,000 ounces in 1894, 
worth $31,422,000. For 1895, the product was but 
46,000,000 ounces, worth $31,422,000, a decrease in three 
years of 16,500,000 ounces, a loss of more than one-fourth 
the output in 1892, and a loss in commercial value of al- 
most one-half. 

Whereas in the same three years the output of gold 
in the United States has increased from $33,000,000 in 
1892, to $39,000,000 in 1894. In 1895, the product was 
$46,500,000, a net increase in these three years of 
$3,500,000, considerably more than one-third of the en- 
tire output in 1892. 

At the same rate of increase of gold and loss of sil 
ver for the next three years, and there is every prospect* 
of it, the United States will be producing $60,000,000 
worth of gold and only 29,500,000 ounces of silver, worth 
at present price only $19,765,000— less than one-third the 
value of the gold product. 

His speech on the Customs Service Deficiency be- 
gins on page 4172 and closes on page 4179. His speech 
on the French Spoliation Claims begins on page 5805 and 
closes on 5810. 

It was during the first session of the Fifty-fourth 
Congress that the appropriation for the re-building of the 
public building at St. Albans, which had been burned, 
came up. General Grout made a hard fight for the re- 
appropriation of the original sum, which was introduced 
as an amendment to the Sundry Civil Bill in the Senate 
and when it came back to the House with Judge Powers 

104 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



he successfully defended the amendment. It was a dis- 
astrous time for public building bills and most of them 
went out of the bill on demand of Chairman Cannon, 
who was in charge of it, but after a sharp debate the 
amendment was retained by a vote of 73 to 58. Pages 
5629 and 5630 of the Record for the first session of this 
Congress will indicate the very prominent part General 
Grout took in saving the amendment. 

During the second session of the Fifty-fourth Con- 
gress the Record shows a large amount of work perform- 
ed by General Grout. 

Among the speeches delivered by him during this 
session were these: On the fortification appropriations 
bill, on National Banks, on the Pacific Railroad Indebted- 
ness, on oleomargarine and much debate consequent up- 
on his having in charge the District of Columbia Appro- 
priation Bill on the floor of the House. The following 
are extracts from his speech on Pacific Railroad Indebt- 
edness; 

PACIFIC RAILROAD SPEECH 

"Mr. Chairman: I agree with those gentlemen who 
advocate the passage of this bill that the real question 
before us is how we can save to the public Treasury this 
one hundred and eleven or twelve millions of dollars due 
to the Government from these roads; but I do not agree 
with them when they say that it is a matter of no conse- 
quence that the men who received the money from the 
sale of the bonds which we loaned these companies and 
expended it, made themselves rich through the dishonest 
and fraudulent practices with which they are charged. 

I cannot, for instance, agree with my friend, the gen- 
tleman from Iowa, (Mr. Hepburn), in his statement that 
if these men became rich it was from the rise of the se- 

105 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

curities which they received— honestly received, as he 
would have us understand — in the construction of the 
road. 

Mr. Chairman, I cannot agree to this when I find on 
page 143 of the report of the Pacific Railroad Commis- 
sion, which I hold in my hand, that there were large 
sums paid for improper purposes, to wit, $268,812.08, on 
account of the Sioux City and Pacific Railway, which 
went improperly for the benefit of the directors of that 
road. On account also of constructing 1,171 miles of 
feeders to the Central Pacific, Stanford, Huntington, 
Hopkins, and Crocker issued to themselves $33,722,000 
of bonds and $49,500,800 of stock, when the cost of these 
adjunct lines was but $27,216,931.01, thereby leaving a 
clean steal on this alone of $55,509,554. Then as direct- 
ors of the Central Pacific they took a lease of these lines 
which they owned, at a rental of nearly 13 per cent. 

Then when I turn to page 51 of this report, and find 
that the total profit of construction of the Union Pacific 
was $43,000,000, as this commission figured it, giving the 
items and spreading them before us, which sum included 
$1,104,000 on account of the Credit Mobilier, how can I 
agree with my esteemed friend that these gentlemen be- 
came rich from the rise in the securities which they le- 
gitimately received? They really stole themselves rich 
and stole these roads poor. Nor can I agree with my 
friend and colleague, the gentleman in charge of this bill, 
(Mr. Powers), when he says it is none of our business 
how much these men cheated other people if they did 
not cheat the Government. 

It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that it is not impert- 
inent on the part of the American Congress to have a 
care that a corporation created by it be kept clean and 
honest, not only in its transactions with the Government 

106 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



but with all men. Why, these railroads are the children 
of Congress; they are our children, if you please, and can 
it be said that because our children have not cheated us 
it is none of our business that they cheat everybody else? 

But the trouble is, Mr. Chairman, these men have 
cheated us. You will recall how, after they went away 
with their charters for these roads granted in 1862, and 
started the construction of them, they came back in 1864 
and said they were not provided with money enough to 
build the roads, that the stock and bonds were not suffi- 
cient in amount, when in fact they were more than suffi- 
cient only for the grand larceny of these men. They 
said, in short, that they must have another mortgage 
equal to the amount of the Government loan, and that it 
must be a first mortgage and the Government mortgage 
made second. And, Mr. Chairman, you will remember, 
astounding as the fact now seems, how, through the le- 
gerdemain of the Credit Mobilier, the stock of which was 
held by many a Member and Senator, whom it followed 
like a shadow to the grave, these men hoodwinked and 
wheedled the American Congress into making the Gov- 
ernment mortgage a second mortgage and allowing them 
to sell, as a first mortgage, an amount of bonds equal to 
those loaned by the Government, and then they went to 
work and stole every dollar of that first mortgage and 
two or three times as much more. So I say, Mr. Chair- 
man, they have cheated us. 

They also cheated the Government at the same time 
by falsely representing that the Sioux City road could 
not be built on a straight line from Sioux City to the 
North Platte, according to the original charter, and ob- 
tained permission to build on a circuitous route at very 
much greater cost and to the inconvenience and great 



107 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

damage of the whole Northwest, but to the advantage of 
a connecting railway, which was in the conspiracy. 

By this line, as fraudulently built, after one had 
gone seventy-nine miles from Sioux City on his way to 
San Francisco he would actually be more than twenty 
miles farther east than when he started. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, after having been held up for 
thirty-five years, the Government has at last got where it 
can put its hand on this corporation, where it can fore- 
close its mortgage. And now these gentlemen and their 
successors and representatives appear upon the scene 
again and ask Congress to forget the falsehoods and 
frauds and robberies that have been committed by them 
during the thirty-five years they have kept the Govern- 
ment out of this debt. They ask not only this, but also 
ask the Government to tie its hands as to this debt again, 
and this time for eighty-six years and at 2 per cent inter- 
est. In other words, they ask the Government to hire 
money at 4 per cent and let to them at 2 per cent. Why, 
the loss to the Government in interest alone on this tran- 
saction would amount to as much or more than the 
whole debt at the present time. My colleague said in 
his speech presenting this matter that the Government 
had its choice, to accept this bill or throw the debt away. 

If this bill is accepted, the debt would be absolutely 
thrown away through the loss on the interest item 
alone. But, Mr. Chairman, the debt will not be lost 
should this bill fail. It could only be lost on the ground 
that the first mortgage could foreclose and shut out the 
Government mortgage. But this cannot be done till 
Congress gives permission to be made a party to the suit. 

Sovereignty does not allow itself to be sued, does not 
allow itself to be taken into court by a dapper constable 
or a deputy marshal with a writ of summons except by 

108 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



permission of Congress, and that permission has not yet 
been granted. If you will look at the Attorney-General's 
report for 1896, you will find the Department of Justice 
stands upon this ground. The Government cannot, with- 
out further legislation, be foreclosed out of its rights in 
this property. Of course the first mortgage must be paid 
first, and whether in the hands of a receiver as now, or 
however it may be administered, that must be paid be- 
fore anything can go to the Government. But the advo- 
cates of this bill say it will give us a mortgage on addi- 
tional lines of railway. Mr. Chairman, in my opinion the 
Government is better off with the security it now has 
than it will be with that proposed by this bill; and if 
power could be vested in somebody to settle, as proposed 
by the substitute bill of the gentleman from Alabama, 
(Mr. Harrison),! believe it would result much more prof- 
itably for the Government than to pass this bill. The 
fact is, little if any additional security would be obtained 
by extending the mortgage over the unaided portions, 
while the first mortgage would be increased, if this bill 
passes, by the amount of $24,000,000. This is well illus- 
trated by the Kansas Pacific, on which we have a mort- 
gage now to the three hundred and ninety-fourth mile- 
post. This is really a valuable piece of road, every rod 
of it running through a rich and productive country. 
Between that point and Denver the road goes through an 
alkaU region practically worthless. That portion on 
which we now have our mortgage will always be a valu- 
able property, made so by the fertility of the country. 
But the other part is worth nothing only for its connec- 
tions. And so it is throughout the whole system. It is 
by no means clear that we shall not lessen, rather than 
increase our security, by passing this bill. The chair- 
man. The time of the gentleman has expired." 



109 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

During this Congress General Grout was appointed 
chairman of a Special House Committee to investigate 
certain charges and allegations made relative to the Na- 
tional Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth, Kansas. Among 
his associates on the Committee were Governor Stone of 
Pennsylvania, Governor Sayers of Texas, late chairman 
of Committee on Appropriations. The hearing was held 
at Leavenworth and was a protracted one. General 
Grout's chairmanship of this important committee with 
the above named distinguished men under him indicates 
his standing in the House. 

The oleomargarine bill introduced by General Grout 
during this Congress was reported favorably by the Com- 
mittee on Agriculture, and the care of it on the floor was 
yielded to him by the chairman. He conducted a two 
days fight for it, and it was passed by the House. It fail- 
ed, however, in the Senate. The story of this contest 
can be found beginning with page 767 and 815 of the Re- 
cord of this session. 

THE 55th CONGRESS 

In the 55th Congress General Grout was a member 
of the same committees and occupied the same positions 
on them as in the previous Congress. In the first session 
he introduced thirty-one bills and joint resolutions. 

During this session General Grout spoke in the 
House in favor of Government relief for the sufferers 
from the famine in India. See page 567 of the Record 
and following. 

This proposition came from the Senate as a joint res- 
olution and was called up by General Grout, who took 
charge of it in the House and secured its passage. The 
resolution recited the fact of a famine in India and au- 
thorized the Secretary of the Navy to detach a vessel of 

110 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



from 2000 to 4000 tons capacity for the purpose of trans- 
porting contributions of food and supplies to the desti- 
tute in India. The resolution was debated by several 
members and was adopted without amendment. 

During the second session of the Fifty-fifth Congress 
General Grout introduced the following public bills, joint 
resolutions and petitions, which are given as a sample of 
his work along these lines each session: 

To improve the Anacostia River. 

Tendering thanks of Congress to George Dewey. 

To promote George Dewey to rank of Admiral. 

To recognize independence of Cuba. 

To erect public building at Island Pond. 

To provide for raising of battleship Maine. 

To increase circulation of National Banks. 

To regulate retirement of those Naval Officers who 
served in the war with Spain and have received thanks 
of Congress. 

To erect public building at Newport. 

To amend laws relative to rank in pensions. 

To recognize organization of Sons of Veterans. 

Also the following bills in pension cases: In mat- 
ter of Elizabeth Barnum, Mary E. Chamberlain, Cordelia 
Cheney, Dana Cook, Lydia M. Davis, V. C. Johnstone, 
John Lonergan, Gratia H. Martin, Nelson Morse, Samuel 
Page, Harriet E. Pope. 

Also petitions and papers in the following cases: 

From the Citizens of Fort Smith, Arkansas, concern- 
ing sale of government land. 

Boston Chamber of Commerce against flour adulter- 
ation. 

Boston New England Milk Producers Union for in- 
terstate commerce legislation. 

Ill 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALL ACE GROUT 

Brattleboro Dairymen's Association for interstate 
commerce legislation. 

Brattleboro Patrons of Husbandry for free rural 
mail delivery. 

Brookfield Patrons of Husbandry for certain legisla- 
tion. 

Chester Woman's Christian Temperance Union for 
certain legislation. 

Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce for levee system 
on Mississippi River. 

Hard wick druggists for repeal of stamp tax on med- 
icines. 

Dr. Holton of Brattleboro for prevention of cruelty 
to animals. 

Irasburg Epworth League against sale of intoxica- 
ting liquor in government buildings. 

New England Druggists Union against tax on pro- 
prietary medicines. 

New England Shoe and Leather Association relative 
to Cuban matters. 

New England Paint and Oil Club for reciprocity 
treaty with Canada and Newfoundland. 

New York Board of Trade and Transportation rela- 
tive to Cuban matters. 

New York Chamber of Commerce against proposed 
tonnage tax. 

New York Merchants Association relative to expend- 
itures in Post Office Department. 

Philadelphia Board of Trade relative to free delivery 
of mail. 

Philadelphia Grocers and Importers Exchange 
against tax on tea and coffee in stock. 

Philadelphia Trades League against reduction of 
postal facilities. 

112 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



Providence R. I. Board of Trade relative to Cuba. 

St. Johnsbury Board of Trade relative to Cuban 
question. 

Citizens of Vermont for restriction of Immigration, 
for present system of ticket brokerage, relative to Cuba, 
for Lodge Immigration Bill. 

Vermont Churches and Societies for legislation in 
twenty instances. 

Vermont G. A. R. against sale of liquor in govern- 
ment buildings. 

Vermont Legislature tendering thanks to Commo- 
dore Dewey. 

Vermont Society of Colonial Wars for purchase of 
Fort Ticonderoga. 

Vermont State Sanitary Association for bureau of 
public health. 

During this session General Grout delivered speech- 
es: On Cuba, Free Homesteads, the Volunteer Army and 
the War Revenue. 

The speech on Cuba can be found in the Record for 
this session commencing on page SOL 

CUBAN SPEECH 

"What the American people want is peace in Cuba 
with liberty for her people; and if this can be accom- 
plished without opening among our people the 'purple 
testament of bleeding war,' so much the better. The 
American people will thank God and will bestow un- 
stinted praise upon William McKinley, if he should be 
able to accomplish this great result without bloodshed. 

I believe in the patriotism, fidelity to duty, and 
great ability of the President, and would not put him un- 
der the extreme tension of immediate marching orders. 
Mr. Speaker, I do not like the language of the House 

113 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

resolution ordering the President 'to intervene at once.' 
It looks too much as if we were apprehensive that a lit- 
tle delay might result in a peaceful solution of the prob- 
lem before us. It is too imperative and has too much 
the appearance of exercising over the President an un- 
seemly surveillance. 

Let us not make ourselves ridiculous by ordering 
the Commander in Chief when to march and when to 
halt and whether or not to cease firing on approach of a 
flag of truce. Let us leave the details all with him; sim- 
ply give him orders to establish peace and liberty in Cu- 
ba; and if h6 can do it under the white banner of diplo- 
macy and keep untarnished the national honor, how 
much better than to plunge the American people into the 
horrors of war, the terrible meaning of which will begin 
to be understood when American homes begin to go into 
mourning for the 'unreturning brave;' when we begin to 
establish a new pension roll for this new war, while so 
many who saved the life of the Republic in the last war 
are still unprovided for. Yes, the full meaning of war 
will begin to dawn on the American people when the in- 
evitable war tax is levied on tea and coffee and the nec- 
essaries of life; when every trade, profession, and busi- 
ness go under a license tax, and every note, check, con- 
tract and deed must have a war stamp." 

The speech on Free Homesteads may be found in 
the Record beginning on page 2695. The following are 
extracts from it: 

HOMESTEADS SPEECH 

"Mr, Chairman, upon the homestead policy of the 
country I have no criticism to offer. It has built up an 
empire in the West, and is still drawing from the East, 
especially the New England States, the young agricul- 

114 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



ture all through that section. Some think it is hardly 
fair to the owner of lands in the older States for the Gov- 
ernment to give away the public lands, some of which 
are the richest in the world, to settlers throughout the 
West, whose products come into direct competition with 
the products of the East, where the farmers have to pay 
for their lands. But I am not going to claim this. The 
pioneer settler, with the advantage of free lands, still has 
many adverse conditions to contend with. Besides, the 
land given away to settlers under the homestead law, 
certainly all the Louisiana purchase, which constituted 
the larger share of the public domain at the time the law 
was passed, cost only a little over 3 cents per acre. I re- 
peat, I am not going to attack our free-homestead sys- 
tem; but I do draw the line against buying lands of the 
Indians or anyone else at $3.75 per acre, the price paid 
for some of those in dispute, and then giving them away 
to settlers, especially when it is in fraud of an express un- 
derstanding that the settlers were to pay for them. 

No, sir; I shall never consent to tax my constituents, 
who are struggling among the snows and hills of Ver- 
mont to wrest a living from the rugged acres which they 
have bought and paid for, in order to buy lands out 
West and give them away to the settlers. 

I am clear that this is not fair as between the culti- 
vators of the soil in these two sections of our country, 
and how, in the face of the legislative history of this bus- 
iness, anyone can seriously contend for it is more than I 
can understand. 

Mr. Chairman, this amendment ought to be, and I 
believe will be, rejected by an overwhelming vote. 

The amendment was rejected by the following vote 
—yeas, 34; nays, 140." 



115 



M EMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

During this session General Grout introduced eleven 
bills and delivered speeches on the following subjects: 
Army Canteens, Army Re-organization, the death of Sen- 
ator Morrill, Public Building at Newport, District of Co- 
lumbia Appropriation Bill. 

During General Grout's many years of service on 
the District of Columbia Committee and later as a mem- 
ber and present chairman of the sub-committee of the 
Appropriations Committee which had in charge all the 
expenditures for the District, he inaugurated and carried 
out many reforms and retrenchments which have won 
for him the warmest expressions of gratitude of the res- 
idents of the city. As one of many of these public bene- 
fits may be mentioned the great reduction in the cost to 
the city of street lighting. When General Grout's con- 
nection with the District Appropriation Bill began arc 
street lights were costing $150 each per year. Later, ow- 
ing to the action of the sub-committee, of which he was 
chairman, the cost was reduced to $75 per light, a 
saving to the city of one-half the cost of electric lights. 
The wires in Washington are under ground and much 
more expensive than an over head service. 

THE 56th CONGRESS 

In the Fifty-sixth Congress General Grout, in addi- 
tion to his former committee assignments as chairman 
of Expenditures in the War Department and third on Ap- 
propriations, was appointed second on Special Committee 
on Centennial Celebration of Establishment of National 
Capital at Washington and also chairman of Board of 
Visitors to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. But this 
last position he resigned as the work at Annapolis came 
in the closing week of the session when he could not be 
absent from the House on account of his oleomargarine 

116 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



bill and the District Appropriation Bill which was still in 
conference. 

In the first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress he in- 
troduced the usual large number of bills, four of which 
became laws, and another, important measure was his 
oleomargarine bill which was made the special order for 
the third day of next session and was then reasonably 
certain to pass the House. 

The opposition to this bill was of the most desperate 
character, but at last the committee, against every kind 
of influence, reported the bill favorably but too late for 
consideration before adjournment. General Grout did, 
however, obtain a special rule for its consideration on the 
third day of December next, made more likely its pas- 
sage through the Senate than if it had gone to that body 
at the close of the last session; inasmuch as it gave time 
for the dairymen of the country to make known to the 
Senate their wishes in the premises. 

His principal speeches during this session were 
against seating Brigham H. Roberts, in favor of the Por- 
to Rican Tariff, and on his Oleomargarine Bill. 

The speech against seating Roberts was a well-con- 
sidered argument on the constitutional right of the 
House to refuse him admission, instead of first admitting 
him and then expelling him. The following are the clos- 
ing paragraphs of that speech: 

THE ROBERTS SPEECH 

"Mr. Speaker, the minority position, briefly stated, is 
this: That whoever has the governor's certificate, is 25 
years old, seven years a citizen of the United States, and 
an inhabitant of the State from which he comes, shall be 
seated as a matter of absolute right, simply because the 
Constitution says the member must have these qualifica- 

117 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

tions, but does not say that Congress or the House may 
not require others. The minority seem to lose sight of 
that other clause, that "each House shall be the judge of 
the election, and qualifications of its own mem- 
bers." The only judgment which the House has under 
the minority view is, whether a man is 25 years of age, 
has been seven years a citizen, and was an inhabitant of 
the State at the time of election — three very heavy ques- 
tions indeed for the representatives of the sovereign peo- 
ple to judge. 

I submit that these things are all matters of ascer- 
tainment rather than judgment. And if the framers of 
the Constitution intended to limit the power of the House 
to these three things, they would have used the word "as- 
certain" as more applicable to this inquiry, so that the 
clause would read, "Each house shall judge of the 
election and shall ascertain the qualifications of 
its own members." The framers of the Constitution un- 
derstood well the use of language, and if they had intend- 
ed this limitation, they never would have used the word 
"judge" in that connection. 

The majority claim that under the word "judge" the 
House may not only ascertain if the member is qualified 
as the Constitution says he must be, but when charges 
are preferred against a member-elect that ought to dis- 
qualify him as a Representative it is the duty of the 
House to look into them and, if true, judge whether the 
offense he may be guilty of ought to exclude him from 
the House. 

TEST CASES 

Now, let us test the minority views by some extreme 
cases, which, on the authority of Chief Justice Shaw, 
prove the rule. Suppose a lunatic presents himself 

118 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



with the governor's certificate, and he possess the three 
prescribed qualifications. According to the minority, he 
must be sworn in, no matter what confusion and danger 
he may bring into the House. Suppose a leper comes 
with a certificate and the three qualifications— and one 
may some day come from Hawaii, though there be lepers 
in the United States— the minority, following the logic of 
their position, must say he should be sworn in, thus mak- 
ing a pesthouse of this Hall. But suppose a murderer 
raises his hand, still red from the fatal fray, for the oath. 
Gentlemen of the minority cannot help saying he should 
receive it and sit down with the representatives of the 
people. 

The minority may reply: "After admission these 
men might be expelled, of course, because one is a luna- 
tic, the other a leper, and the other a murderer. It 
would, of course, be because of these disqualifications." 
But these are not enumerated in the Constitution, and 
your position denies the power of the House to add any 
others. It will trouble the ordinary mind to understand, 
if the House may add to these qualifications for expul- 
sion, why it may not for exclusion. Thus do we see the 
argument of the minority running into the face of itself. 

The majority view is, that when the Constitution 
says the House shall be the judge of the qualifications of 
its own members, it means just what it says, and it may, 
if it so determine, refuse admission to all such charac- 
ters as above described; may, in short, exclude any per- 
son whose entrance into it would affect its integrity, 
compromise its dignity, or be a blot on its morality; and 
I do not care whether you call this the power of prescrib- 
ing additional qualifications or of self-preservation and 
self -protection. Mr. Speaker, I believe if this question 
ever gets into the Supreme Court, that that tribunal will 

119 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

never take away or in any way abridge the power of the 
House to keep itself respectable. 

Now, apply this principle to the case at bar. Brig- 
ham H. Roberts is a polygamist, and is such in violation 
of a law kept on foot by a provision in the constitution 
of Utah which he himself helped place there in order to 
bring the State into the Union, when at the very time he 
was living in violation of that law, and has been from 
that time until now, thus adding to the crim.e of 
polygamy, hypocrisy and falsehood. Shall we admit 
such a man to a seat in the House? 

POLYGAMY, HYPOCRISY, AND FRAUD 

Here are the facts: The enabling act authorized Utah 
to form a State government on condition that polyga- 
mous and plural marriages be forever prohibited. This 
provision was incorporated into the constitution, and it 
was also moved by C. S. Varian, of Salt Lake, to insert 
the following clause declaring in force the laws of the 
Territory against polygamy: 

The act of the governor and legislative assembly of 
the Territory of Utah entitled "An act to punish poly- 
gamy and other kindred offenses," approved Feb. 4, 1892, 
in so far as the same defines and imposes penalties for 
polygamy, is hereby declared to be in force in the State 
of Utah. 

And on this motion Mr. Roberts, who was a member 
of the convention, spoke as follows: 

"Mr. President, I am in favor of adopting the amend- 
ment offered by the gentleman from Salt Lake. I think, 
sir, that it should prevail. First and principally that it 
may appear, without any equivocation whatever, that in 
perfect good faith the people of Utah intend to carry out 
the condition upon which statehood is to be granted to 

120 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



the Territory, for Congress did require, by its enabling 
act, an express stipulation upon this subject, and I be- 
lieve its intention was to have a declaration that would 
be effective and not merely an empty assertion, and I 
think a provision of this character is absolutely neces- 
sary to the document we are drafting, in order to estab- 
lish beyond question the fact that we intend to carry out 
to the letter our agreement as expressed in the compact 
with the United States." 

It was on February 4, 1894, that Mr. Roberts uttered 
the foregoing. He was anxious to have it known that 
the people of Utah were acting "in perfect good faith" 
and were intending "to carry out to the letter their 
agreement as expressed in the compact with the United 
States," from which it seems Roberts perfectly under- 
stood there was a compact. 

Now, let me ask, what kind of faith was he exercis- 
ing at that very moment, living, as he was, with Celia 
Dibble, his plural wife, whom he married in 1895? And 
what kind of faith has he exercised since, by continuing 
his relations with this second wife "ever since" as the 
committee find? And further, let me ask what kind of 
"faith"— that is his word— did he exercise three years 
later, in 1897, when he took another wife, Margaret C. 
Shipp? 

Not only this, but while Roberts was before the peo- 
ple of Utah for election in reply to Governor Wells, who 
is a Mormon, but who protested against Robert's election 
on the ground of his polygamy and that it would be a vi- 
olation of the admission compact, said in an interview 
which appeared in the Salt Lake Herald of November 6, 
1898, and signed by him, among other things, the follow- 
ing: 

He knows that while technically a law which crept 

121 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

into our statute book by what may be called an inadver- 
tence—viz, that the code commission put into the code 
what was considered before statehood an unconstitution- 
al law, and then the code was adopted by the legislature, 
a number of whose members have said to me personally 
that they were not aware such a law was in the code — 
he knows that the law has not been executed; that there 
has been no public sentiment that demanded its execu- 
tion, and that, like some of the blue laws of Connecticut, 
which exist on the statute books under similar circum- 
stances, it has not been enforced. And one of Govern- 
or Wells's associates in the attack upon me— Judge Good- 
win — is authority for the statement that a law is never 
enforced against the sentiment of a community. 

Governor Wells knows all this, and yet he is craven 
enough in his soul to join hands with lifelong enemies of 
his father and his people and attack me for doing, if the 
charges are true, what, as a private citizen and a mem- 
ber of the Mormon Church, he dare not lift his voice 
against; for discharging these moral obligations, which, 
if his charges are true, under all the circumstances, 
would be an act of honor. 

When the sow that has been washed returns to her 
wallowing in the mire we smile at it. 

When the dog turns to his vomit we sicken at it. 
When the bird fouls his own nest we are filled with dis- 
gust. 

But when a man, and that man a governor of a 
State, discredits the marriage system which gave him 
birth, stamps the brand of dishonor on his own parents, 
and assumes an attitude that, carried to its legitimate 
conclusions, would put his own sisters beyond the pale 
of the law and mark them as outcasts, then there is no 



122 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



comparison that can express one's contempt and disgust 
for such a craven. 

Thus do we find this man solemnly parading his 
"good faith" in the constitutional convention, professing 
himself in favor of legislation prohibiting polygamy, 
while at that very moment he was himself a polygamist. 
Later we find him repudiating these provisions and air- 
ily brushing aside as a dead letter the very law he had 
favored, speaking of it as having "crept into the statute 
book through an inadvertance;" and now he is posing be- 
fore the House as an honest man under persecution 
from the intolerance of the suspicious and inquisitive. 

Thus does 

He wire in and wire out. 

And leaves us still in doubt 

Whether the snake that made that track 

Was going east or coming back. 

Mr. Speaker, out of his own mouth Brigham H. Rob- 
erts stands convicted of being not only a polygamist, but 
of being a hypocrite and a fraud; and what shall be said 
of his supreme audacity in now asking this House to al- 
low him to sit down with those on whom he has prac- 
ticed this imposition and here flaunt his polygamy and hy- 
pocrisy in the face of the House and of the world? 

The minority report would let him do this. The ma- 
jority report says the House is the judge of this under 
the Constitution, and they recommend that he is to be 
judged of all this under the Constitution, and they rec- 
ommend that he be not allowed to take advantage of his 
own wrong, his own bad faith, and that this, coupled 
with his polygamy, ought to be an absolute bar to his en- 
trance into the House. 

Mr. Speaker, the House has already been told that 
the majority report is in direct line with its precedents 

123 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

and with all of them. No instance has arisen in its his- 
tory, where the question has been raised and the House 
has refused to judge of the qualifications of a member- 
elect when challenged at the bar. 

RESULTS UNDER MAJORITY PLAN 

Under this rule the Kentucky members were sifted 
in 1867 and the disloyal ones kept out of the House. Un- 
der it the cadet broker was kept out in 1870, and in 1892, 
Cannon, the polygamist, was kept out on account of his 
polygamy; and the country has survived what, according 
to the gentlemen holding the minority views, must have 
been a terrible wrench to the Constitution; and the peo- 
ple have said amen every time. 

RESULTS UNDER MINORITY PLAN 

Under the minority plan of purging the House of un- 
worthy characters by expulsion, the record is a dismal 
one. 

First of all, it left Cannon, the polygamist, in the 
House in 1874, and his victory gave him such standing 
that he held on for eight years longer, when the majority 
plan sent him home. 

Under the minority plan a long list of dubious and 
shady characters have been left in the House unmolest- 
ed. I do not wish to make unnecessarily public the 
names, but if left one man charged with murder and sev- 
eral charged with bribery and bribe taking and other 
corrupt practices. 

PRECEDENTS MAKE ROBERT'S EXPULSION DOUBTFUL 

Mr. Speaker, all the cases of attempted expulsion 
hold that it can be done only for some cause connected 
with service in the House, and in the very term, too, in 

124 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



which the attempt is made. Under this rule, supported 
by an unbroken line of precedents, how could Roberts be 
expelled immediately after admission, in the absence of 
proof of some fresh act of polygamous cohabitation? 
What has he done connected with his service in the 
House which would justify it? But enough; the House 
understands the issue between the two reports. It is 
principally a question of constitutional construction, and 
each member will say for himself how he will read that 
instrument, not only in the light of legal learning but of 
common sense and legislative experience. 

Mr. Speaker, for myself I shall stand by the prece- 
dents of the House, believing they are constitutional and 
essential to the wholesome discharge of its duties. I 
shall vote to exclude Roberts from the House. (Loud 
applause.) 

REMARKS 

The most important legislation of years of his hard 
service of interest to the State of Vermont was brought 
about through the Appropriations Committee while he 
was a member of it. Conspicuous instances were the re- 
appropriation for the St. Albans Public Building; the 
Government Fish Hatchery at St. Johnsbury; Fort Ethan 
Allen; the division of the state into two Collection Dis- 
tricts and the Public Building at Newport. These things 
were accomplished through that committee during his 
service upon it. 

Thus you have a condensed record of General 
Grout's eighteen years in Congress; though limited, it 
furnishes an idea of the routine of his life during that 
period. It also shows that he was a very busy man, the 
busiest of the busy. 

The extracts given indicate the kind of work in 
which he became interested; and they also tell the abil- 
ity with which he acquitted himself in doing his work. 

125 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

JUSTIN S. MORRILL 

MEMORIAL EXERaSES IN CONGRESS 

FEBRUARY 22, 1899 

The following is an abridgment of General Grout's 
remarks on that occasion. 

In the preceding abridgment of his congressional 
record appear features of his work relating to public 
matters only. 

The following abridgment indicates the character of 
his many speeches of the same kind while in Congress. 

His speech on placing the statue of General Stark 
in Statuary Hall was a model; and was at the time 
much used in the High Schools of the State for the his- 
tory it taught. 

The death of Senator Morrill precipitated an event 
in General Grout's life to which I shall next call atten- 
tion. 

MORRILL MEMORIAL REMARKS 

Mr. Speaker, Justin Smith Morrill, long a distin- 
guished figure at both ends of this Capitol, was the natu- 
ral product of the State from which he came. 

Near the close of the last century there went into 
the northeastern portion of Vermont from the other New 
England States a set of hardy pioneers who were every 
way the equals of those remarkable men who founded 
the State and who had already made her name famous in 
the annals of that time. Their descendants are still 
found on the farms and in the villages and are proud to 
trace their lineage to the first settlers who felled the for- 
ests and brought the rugged hillsides under cultivation. 

In 1795, among the sturdy, stalwart men who push- 

126 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



ed back into the wilderness and into the very heart of 
what is now Orange County was Smith Morrill with a 
wife and seven children— five sons and two daughters — 
and he there set up his household gods. All five of the 
sons settled in Strafford, and there the Morrills are still 
to be found. They came from Anglo-Saxon stock which 
is fast encircling the earth with its victories and its civ- 
ilization. In 1812, with true Anglo-Saxon spirit, this har- 
dy frontiersman started with four of his sons, including 
Nathaniel, the father of Justin, who was then colonel of 
militia, to meet the British at Plattsburg, but was too late 
for the battle, though in season to join in pursuit of the 
fleeing British squadrons. 

Justin Smith Morrill was born in Strafford, Vermont, 
April 14, 1810. He entered Congressional life March 4, 
1855, as a member of this body, and died a Senator De- 
cember 27, 1898, having been continuously in public ser- 
vice forty-three years and nine months, only a little less 
than one-half of his entire lifetime, and for the longest 
consecutive period of any man in the history of the coun- 
try. 

Here is a remarkable career as to length of service. 
It is no less remarkable for its rich legislative products 
and its beneficent influence on the industrial and eco- 
nomic conditions of the American people. 

But before speaking of him as a public man and 
statesman let us for a moment look at him as a boy and 
a prosperous young man of business. He was the eldest 
of a family of ten children, which his father, the village 
blacksmith, clothed, fed, and educated by his daily toil 
at the forge and anvil. 

Indeed, blacksmithing seems to have been a favorite 
trade in the family. That was the occupation of Smith 
Morrill, who, with his son, Nathaniel, the father of Jus- 

127 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALL ACE G R OUT 

tin, lived together and had a shop at Strafford Upper Vil- 
lage; and of Joseph, another son of Smith, who establish- 
ed a shop at the Lower Village. And later still it was 
the trade of Amos, the brother of Justin S. 

But these men were more than the ordinary black- 
smith whose well-developed arm— 

With steady sledge 
Smites the shrill anvil all day long. 

They did this, but they wanted a heavier blow with 
a larger hammer. They saw the waters of the riotous 
Ompompomoosuc flowing past and harnessed them in 
each village to a trip-hammer and supplied the farmers 
with axes, hoes, and scythes, rude of construction, but up 
with the times. And such was the enterprising industry 
of these men that to this day among the traditions of the 
town one will learn how, with no eight hour law in the 
way, the early morning slumbers of the villagers were 
broken by the well-accentuated music of these trip-ham- 
mers. 

It will be seen that Senator Morrill came of working 
stock; and how well he kept the family record let his life 
make answer. He was emphatically a self-made man. 
His education was limited. It was, in fact, ended and he 
was out of school at 14. It was acquired at the district 
school, with two terms at the academy. Scant scholar- 
ship on which to start in business or statesmanship; and 
yet he made a success of both, not through accident or 
luck, but by faithfully performing the things that befell 
him to do, and by all the time being a learner. He had 
not only the spirit of inquiry, but no trace of dogmatism, 
which always bars the way to both knowledge and wis- 
dom. 

Nathaniel Morrill's family was increasing in num- 
bers, and Justin was old enough to help in its support, or 

128 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



at least to support himself, and he was hired out to 
Judge Harris to work in his store for two years on a sal- 
ary of $30 for the first year and $40 for the second. He 
had enough to do, had plain food, and was really well 
used, and yet he frequently importuned his father to re- 
lieve him of the contract. But his father knew that the 
discipline was making a man of the boy, and it undoubt- 
edly did much toward laying the foundation for his suc- 
cess in after life. 

He faithfully completed the contract, and his service 
was sointelligent and rehable that four years afterwards, 
he having been meantime in Portland Me., as a clerk, 
Judge Harris took him in as a partner, and together they 
conducted a large and successful business for about fif- 
teen years, when both retired with profits. Judge Har- 
ris was a rich man for those days and he furnished the 
money and young Morrill did the business. It is the tes- 
timony of a contemporary that by his courteous treat- 
ment of customers and his absolutely truthful represen- 
tations he rapidly became the most popular merchant in 
tov/n and did double the business of any other. 

On his retirement from business he purchased and 
improved as a farm a tract of land abutting on the vil- 
lage street, on which he erected a modest but elegant 
home, and in 1851, married Miss Ruth Swan, a Massa- 
chusetts lady of cultivation and refinement, who grace- 
fully dispensed a homelike hospitality that well supple- 
mented the unostentatious life of her husband. She 
passed away only a few months in advance of him, be- 
loved and mourned by all who knew her. 

In 1855, Representative Morrill came into public life 
at the opening of an important epoch of American his- 
tory. The "irrepressible conflict" between freedom and 
slavery was asserting itself as never before. The Mis- 

129 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

souri Compromise had been repealed and Kansas and 
Nebraska thrown open to slavery. Kansas already had 
quite a population, and the question whether it should 
come into the Union as a free or slave State was the ab- 
sorbing one North and South. The settlers were al- 
ready arrayed on either side and collisions were fre- 
quent. In the first session of Mr. Morrill's service the 
question of the admission of Kansas was up, and it was 
upon this subject, June 28, 1856, that he made his maid- 
en speech in the House. Among his opening words are 
the following: 

"I propose to discuss the propriety of the immediate 
admission of Kansas as a state of this Union, and, to 
some extent, the hindrances thrown in the way by the 
vexed question of slavery— not all of which are Southern 
men alone responsible for. 

Why postpone action upon this subject? Are there 
any gentlemen hoping something better will turn up? I 
appeal to the sound sense of the House whether the 
present angry agitation of the subject of slavery will 
pay? Gentlemen have eyes, and each must see and 
judge for himself whether slavery is likely to win any 
strength not already lodged in the Constitution in a pol- 
icy of persistent aggression or not; and, if to win even tem- 
porarily, at what future cost. If slavery has nothing to 
win, can there be any mode of more gracefully closing 
the contest than by a speedy admission of Kansas as a 
free State? Will not sectional pride suffer less humilia- 
tion by such an adjustment than by any decision to be 
obtained by civil war, executive power, or by a legisla- 
tive restoration of the Missouri Compromise? 

But the contest was not to be thus "gracefully" 
closed, and no thought seemed to have been taken 
whether greater or "less humiliation" was to follow. 

130 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



The free-State constitution was rejected by Congress and 
the slave constitution submitted by Congress to Kansas 
was rejected by the people of that State by more than 
10,000 majority. Here at the capital, the storm center of 
public opinion, the free-State men were jubilant and 
those from the slave States were defiant. The debates 
in the two Houses grew more acrimonious and the rela- 
tions between the social sets of the two sections every 
day became more strained and embarrassing. The 
great issue was rapidly approaching a crisis. Abraham 
Lincoln was elected President, and the Southern States, 
throwing aside all restraint, one after another passed 
their ordinances of secession and commenced organizing 
a mihtary force, and at last it became plain to all that we 
were swiftly drifting into the maelstrom of civil war. 
Some replied harshly to the withdrawing Senators and 
Members; but on the report of the committee of thirty- 
three, one from each State, to consider the situation, 
among other things, Mr. Morrill said: 

"Let me appeal to all parties to try and live under 
that Union a little longer. * * Give us another 
span of seventy years and prolong the hopes of mankind 
in the possibility of man's power of self-government. 
Do not let us break up the model which patriots, though 
with unequal steps, in contiguous as well as far-distant 
countries, have struggled and are struggling to mold in- 
stitutions like those among which our own still live the 
leading example. But if our attempts to put off the evil 
day shall fail, and this matchless form of free govern- 
ment is to be put to the extremest peril, it will rally all 
the vigor remaining in its Constitution in behalf of self- 
preservation. It cannot abnegate its power, and it will 
not die willingly. The great heart of the nation will con- 



131 



M EMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

front all dangers and survive, I trust, to cover friends 
and foes with countless blessings." 

How completely is the prophecy of these closing 
words being fulfilled. Verily the nation has survived, 
"to cover friends and foes with countless blessings." 
But the noticeable thing, and that which is characteris- 
tic of the man, is that there is no trace of the bitterness 
and venom of that spiteful time in it. It is, in every word 
and line, an appeal with no semblance of a threat. The ma- 
jority of the committee of thirty-three were for compro- 
mise and concession — anything to avert war. The mi- 
nority were for war, without parley or delay. 

Representative Morrill, f orseeing that war was inev- 
itable, and believing in the self -preservative power of the 
national sovereignty over all the States, spoke forth in 
sorrow and not in anger the "words of truth and sober- 
ness;" and through it all, like a thread of gold, ran the 
message, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." The 
speech of Mr. Morrill and of a few others on that occa- 
sion stands out as a green spot in the tempestuous waste 
covered by the angry proceedings of that day. 

But as wise and statesmanlike as was the course of 
Representative Morrill in the dark, uncertain days of 
1861, and as able as he proved himself to be after the 
war as a member of the Joint Reconstruction Committee, 
history has already placed far above this service, and 
rightfully, too, his contributions to the educational, finan- 
cial and tariff legislation of the country. 

Mr. Morrill's fiscal and tariff record is truly won- 
derful. It began in his first term of service in his oppo- 
sition to the tariff of 1857, which still further reduced the 
low duties of the Walker tariff of 1846. He made an 
able speech against the bill, and was almost the only 
New England member who voted against it, so feeble at 

132 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



that time was the protection sentiment, which, under his 
leadership, soon became the settled policy of the new Re- 
publican party, just then springing into being and into 
control of affairs. 

This new tariff became a law March 3, 1857, and in the 
fall of that year came what is known in history as the 
financial and industrial crash of 1857, the effects of which 
hung like a pall over Buchanan's entire Administration. 
Trade and industry were paralyzed. The Treasury was 
«mpty. The revenues of the Government fell far short 
of its current expenditures, and national bankruptcy 
stared the American people in the face. And to intensi- 
fy this dismal condition of affairs already could be heard 
the portentous mutterings of the fratricidal war that soon 
followed. 

In the midst of these financial difficulties the deliv- 
erer came. Justin S. Morrill, the plain merchant-farmer 
from the little State of Vermont, prepared and reported 
from the Committee on Ways and Means, though he was 
not then chairman, a bill entitled "An act to provide for 
the payment of outstanding Treasury notes, to authorize 
a loan, to regulate and fix the duties on imports, and for 
other purposes." 

He carried it through the House> It finally passed 
the Senate, the free-trade strength of that body having 
become weakened by the withdrawal of the Senators 
from the cotton States, and it was signed by James Bu- 
chanan only forty-eight hours before his term expired. 
This act has since become known in history as the Mor- 
rill tariff of 1861; and it was this tariff, supplemented by 
certain additional acts and by a system of internal taxa- 
tion and by loans, all of which came from Mr. Morrill's 
committee and most of which were reported by him, 
that kept the Treasury in funds during the war and at 

133 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

its close enabled the Government to commence at once 
the payment of the vast debt it had incurred, and ena- 
bled it also in the twenty years that followed the war 
to pay on that debt in principal and interest over 
$3,500,000,000. 

To the casual reader of history it will seem strange 
that Mr. Morrill could have secured the passage of this 
high protective tariff within four years from the passage 
of the tariff of 1857, the lowest since 1812 and with which 
the majority of all parties were at the time satisfied; and 
especially is it strange that it should have commanded 
the approval of a Democratic President. Mr. Blaine, in 
his Twenty Years of Congress, in speaking of this, says: 

"It was a singular combination of circumstances, 
which on the eve of the Southern revolt led to the inaug- 
uration of a policy that gave such industrial and finan- 
cial strength to the Union in its hour of dire necessity, 
in the very crisis of its fate." 

It was truly "a singular combination," not the 
least feature of which was the man who piloted this 
measure along the shoals, between the rocks, and 
through the breakers of legislation to a place on the sta- 
tute book. Verily, here was a time when the occasion 
and the man met. 

Mr. Morrill was then in the prime of life— tall and 
erect, of fine presence and winning manners; with a face 
that beamed in every line with kindliness and without a 
single trace of acerbity; of a quiet, mild tempera- 
ment, but industrious and alert; never self-assertive or 
aggressive, but at the same time self-reliant and firm as 
the everlasting hills of his native State; modest, but 
never shirking responsibilty; not an orator, 

He would not flatter Neptune for his trident. 
Nor Jove for's power to thunder. 

134 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



but he always spoke wisely and well. No questions 
could be asked about the schedules of his bill or of the 
thousands of items they contained that he did not 
promptly and pleasantly answer. Indeed, he knew as 
completely about these thousands of items as he did 
about the thousands of articles in the Strafford store, 
from which it would seem he graduated for this very 
work. Others, of course, assisted, but not only was he 
the father of the bill, he was also its sponsor at every 
point; and while his associates were wrangling over sec- 
tional questions he was constant in his devotions to this 
protective measure; and when most in earnest was still 
suave and persuasive; and the House stood by him, not 
alone because he aroused no antagonism, but because 
they had confidence in the man, in his wisdom and in his 
honesty. 

The idea of permanently endowing out of the public 
lands an institution of learning in each State for instruc- 
tion in agriculture and science is believed to have been 
original with Justin S. Morrill. But whether or not the 
conception was his, certain it is that he is the man who 
put the land-grant-college act upon the statute book. It 
seems to have been an early and favorite project with 
him. It is not generally known how long and patiently 
and against what reverses he struggled with this pet 
measure. It passed both Houses in the Thirty-sixth Con- 
gress, but was vetoed by Buchanan on the ground that it 
was unconstitutional and that the Treasury was already 
empty. 

It was reintroduced in 1862, and through his skillful 
management became a law, and today 38 land grant col- 
leges in as many States, representing an aggregate capi- 
tal invested of $13,003,023, with 1522 teachers and 25,069 
students, constitute the fruit of this legislation. The 

135 



MEMOIR OF WILLfAM WALLACE GROU T 

first fruit— but who will measure the far-reaching influ- 
ence of this galaxy of industrial colleges upon the future 
of the American people? Who will compute the results? 

The central purpose in founding them was to furnish 
the tiller of the soil such information and aid as would 
just a little lighten his burdens and if possible increase 
his profits, the former of which Mr. Morrill knew to be 
heavy and the latter small. 

His experience with his little farm in Strafford had 
revealed to him how little is known of the science of ag- 
riculture, really the chemistry of nature; how little is 
known of those hidden processes by which the harvest is 
made ready but not always worthy of the sickle. 

He also saw how scientific research alone could 
throw any light upon these problems, and how, too, not 
the farmer alone but all mankind were interested in 
their solution. 

And then, too, born and reared among a working 
people and himself a worker, his sympathies naturally 
went out toward those who win their way by honest toil, 
and he said to himself: "Let us establish institutions of 
learning to fit this class the better to act their part in the 
battle of Ufe; not by giving them instruction in the an- 
cient classics nor in belles-lettres, but, in the language of 
the act itself, 'in agriculture and the mechanic arts, and 
to promote the liberal and practical education of the in- 
dustrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of 
life.' " 

Ordinarily he who founds an institution of learning 
is entitled to large credit. What shall be the measure of 
honor for the man who founded these thirty-eight col- 
leges, from which goes out an army of educated men 
every year to mingle in the walks of life? What a leg- 
acy, not alone to the present but to the generations that 

136 



EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS 



shall go marching down the stretch of time! What a 
monument, too, to the wisdom and large-hearted states- 
manship of the man who so amply provided for the "lib- 
eral and practical education of the industrial classes!" 
And what wonder that when he came to die, these insti- 
tutions, their officers, professors and students, all felt 
that they had indeed lost a friend, as did also the agri- 
culturist and his co-workers throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, from the dairymen of California to 
the horticulturists of IHinois, who sent to the family res- 
olutions laudatory of the dead statesman and expressive 
of their sense of personal bereavement. 

The death of but few public men has so touched the 
hearts of the American people as the death of the man to 
whom we today pay tribute; and this was in large part 
because he had succeeded in accomplishing something in 
a public way for his fellowmen. 

But time forbids that I follow in detail, as I would 
like, Mr. Morrill's career, which is everywhere luminous 
with wisdom of both speech and action, and nowhere 
clouded with distrust or the faintest breath of suspicion. 
The people of his State were not only proud of him but 
they believed in him, and with one voice called him again 
and again to the high trust he so ably and honorably 
kept. But meanwhile — 

The muffled tramp of years 

Come stealing up the slope of time, 

and the erect figure of 44, when he entered public life, 
would hardly be recognized in the venerable form of 88, 
with its slight literary stoop, but the face always fine, a 
model for the artist, was the same, only grown finer still 
from the moldings of the gentle, just spirit within. Mr. 
Morrill was always a student, was never idle, and when 
not absorbed in public duties, or with his farm in Straf- 

137 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ford, for mental recreation he turned to standard litera- 
ture, and as the result was the possessor not only of 
much literary information, but of excellent literary taste. 

Surely his was a beautiful old age. His temperate, 
well ordered life had brought to his closing years more 
than usual vigor of mind and body; and on the anniver- 
sary of his birth thousands of friends were wont to as- 
semble with cordial greetings and congratulations, so 
that this annual gathering in honor of the aged Senator 
came to be a settled social institution of the capital. 

Notwithsianding his advancing years, his mental vig- 
or was as great as ever. 

The older he grew in body the younger he seemed in 
spirit, his bright sunny nature shining out as though no 
shadow was near. He was, in very truth, a young old 
man, retaining all of the purity and much of the imagery 
and harmony of youth. But the — 

"Inaudible and noiseless foot of time" 

was Steadily carrying him toward the dark valley, and in 
his serene and peaceful old age, already in the border 
land, he could well have said: 

"Age is opportunity no less 

Than youth itself, though in another dress. 

And as the evening twilight fades away 

The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day." 

At last in the merry Christmas time, full of years 
and full of honors, as a child falls asleep, he passed away. 
And on this anniversary of the birth of the Father of his 
Country, a fit day for these memorial exercises, the two 
Houses of Congress have suspended business for the pur- 
pose of reviewing his work, recounting his virtues, and 
paying tribute to his memory. Meanwhile he sleeps 
with his kindred in the narrow valley where he first saw 
the light and with the people he loved and served, and 
who in turn loved and honored him. And now we bid 
our kind, lovable friend a tender goodbye until we meet 
again, as was his belief, in that celestial country where 
at last shall be found — 

The day that hath no evening. 
The health that hath no sore, 
The light that hath no ending. 
But lasteth evermore. 

138 



A BOOMERANG 

READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT ANYTHING ELSE 
IN THIS BOOK 



In the Senatorial Campaign of 1900, a pamphlet ap- 
peared, issued by a certain Newport candidate, minimi- 
zing the congressional work of General Grout, in fact, 
making him out a very small, insignificant affair at the 
best, in pubhc life, at Washington, in Vermont, and 
everywhere else. 

The pamphlet assured the people that would they 
send the pamphleteer to the U. S. Senate, Vermont would 
no longer suffer from such insignificant public service. 

This pamphlet was supported by a brash statement 
made by a certain Newport lawyer and published in the 
Newport Express and Standard a part of which was as 
follows: 

"Only fifty-six bills introduced by General Grout 
have become laws. Of these, fifty-two are private bills 
and only four are of a public character. 

Of the fifty-two private bills, fifty are private pen- 
sion bills, each granting a pension to a single individual; 
one (Fifty-first Congress) granted relief to a single per- 
son, and one (Fifty-fourth Congress) authorized the de- 
livery of a condemned cannon to the Grand Army Post 
at St. Johnsbury. 

Of the four public acts, three were strictly local and 
related to the District of Columbia (all Fifty-first Con- 

139 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

gress); one was to regulate tax sales in the District; one 
was to provide for the payment of bonds of the District; 
one to provide a free bathing beach in the District; and 
the fourth (Fifty-fifth Congress) was to erect a public 
building at Newport. 

Does this record justify the claims of General Grout's 
friends that he has been of great benefit to the laboring 
men, especially to the farmers, of Vermont?" 

The Express and Standard answered this statement 
editorially as follows: 

Mr. , for some reason, omits to state that Gener- 
al Grout introduced in the Fifty-first Congress a bill for 
a Fish Hatchery, and again in the Fifty-second Congress, 
which became a law in that Congress on the Sundry Civ- 
il Bill. He also omits to state that Mr. Grout introduced 
the important bill in the Fifty-second Congress for the es- 
tablishment of a military post in Vermont, which became 
a law in the same Congress on the Sundry Civil Bill. 
He also forgets to state a fact well known in Newport, 
viz: that Mr. Grout was the author of the plan to divide 
the Collection District of Vermont, which gives its pres- 
ent importance to our town as a port of entry. Before it 
was only a sub-port. 

All these measures above quoted were enacted into 
law on the Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill, where Sena- 
tor Morrill got through his resolutions, setting aside old 
Representative Hall for statuary. All these things have 
been done through the medium of the Committee on Ap- 
propriations since General Grout has been a member of 
it. And to this list of enactments should also be added 
the appropriation for re-building the public building at 
St. Albans. 

We repeat, all these benefits have come to Vermont 
through the Committee on Appropriations since Mr. 

140 



A BOOMERANG 



■Grout has been a member of it. Cut this out and paste 
it in your hat: What other Member or Senator has done 
more for Vermont? What other one has done so much? 

And is it not possible that Mr. , who can forget to 

mention so many points in Mr, Grout's favor, may have 
forgotten to mention other good points, which we may 
have overlooked at the present writing. 

And, Mr. also forgets to speak of the five Dis- 
trict Appropriation Bills which have been reported by 
Mr. Grout to the House during the last five years, carry- 
ing a total of over thirty millions of dollars, all of which 
have become laws. These bills were all by him. One 
of them occupied the House in discussion for an entire 
week. Another went through without a single change 
in full committee or in the House, a high compliment to 
his standing and leadership; and all of which have re- 
duced the electric lighting for the city of Washington 
more than half, saving to the public treasury hundreds 
of thousands of dollars. 

If Mr. was honestly and fairly looking up what 

Mr. Grout has done in Congress it must seem strange to 
fair-minded men that he did not find some of these 
things, for they are spread over hundreds of pages of the 
Congressional Record and all are referred to in the index. 
But enough for now. We expect to refer to this matter 
again, and if we are not able to show a highly honorable 
record for Mr. Grout we will say so. 

The Editor of the Express and Stnndard sent the 
pamphlet and the lawyer's attack and the above edito- 
rial to Mr. L. A. Coolidge, the able Washington corres- 
pondent of the Boston Journal, and he sent the following 
reply: 



141 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALL ACE GRO UT 

Editor Newport Express: 

Dear Sir;— I have your letter, asking information 
concerning Congressman Grout. 

In the editorial which you enclose you mention sev- 
eral measures the origin of which you credit to General 
Grout; such as the fish hatchery, the military post, the 
division of the collection district, the re-building of the 
St. Albans Federal building and the five appropriation 
bills which he has reported. The record concerning 
these appropriation bills is, "Introduced by the commit- 
tee." But it is fair to credit them to Mr. Grout, as you 
do, for they were reported by him from the committee 
and were principally his work. The record shows that 
the bill for the fish hatchery was first introduced by him 
and finally became a law on an appropriation bill. The 
bill for the military post was introduced in both Senate 
and House by Senator Proctor and General Grout simul- 
taneously, but it became a law on an appropriation bill, 
as did also the act dividing the collection district. All 
these propositions were started in the Senate as they 
would be subject to a point of order if put on the bill or- 
iginally in the House. 

Your claim is fair that these enactments through an 
appropriation bill should be credited to General Grout, 
for the fate of all of them in the House was due to his 
membership of the Appropriations Committee. Meas- 
ures of this kind do not get through that committee 
accidentally. The place of trial is in the House. Court- 
esy makes the way easy in the Senate, but in the House 
it is every man for himself. 

Mr. Grout introduced four public bills in the Fifty- 
first Congress which became laws, instead of three, as 
stated by Mr. . There were two bills relating to tax- 
ation. 

142 



A BOOMERANG 



Legislation is shaped almost entirely in committees. 
Not one bill in a thousand becomes law in the form in 
which it was introduced. In the Fiftieth and Fifty-first 
Congresses, General Grout reported from committee as 
substitutes for bills introduced by others, four bills which 
became laws. These substitutes for bills were his work 
and should be added to his work of constructive legisla- 
tion; thus making a total of eight public bills that be- 
came laws in these two Congresses, the authorship of 
which should be attributed to him. These, with the five 
appropriation bills already named, and the three meas- 
ures that became laws on the appropriation bills make 
a total of eighteen public bills originated by him that 
have become laws, which with the fifty-two private bills 
to his credit, make his total seventy bills. 

As further showing the extent and importance of 
General Grout's work in the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Con- 
gresses when on the district committee, it might be 
stated that in addition to the bills above enumerated, he 
reported eleven others of a public nature, which passed 
the Senate and became laws. Among these were sever- 
al measures of great importance to the District of Colum- 
bia, including one for the establishment of Rock Creek 
Park, which everyone now approves and which is des- 
tined to have great influence on the future of Washing- 
ton city; and the general law under which the loan and 
trust savings institutions and title insurance companies 
have since been organized, now representing anywhere 
from thirty to fifty million dollars of capital. 

Both of these bills were fought in the House by Gen- 
eral Grosvenor and other influential members, but were 
ably handled by Mr. Grout and became laws. The legis- 
lation secured for the District of Columbia while Gener- 



143 



^^ MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

al Grout was at the head of the District Committee is re- 
garded as the most important in all its history. 

You ask for the number of bills introduced by Sena- 
tors Morrill and Edmunds which became laws. I have 
caused a careful examination of the Congressional Globe 
and Record to be made and find that Senator Morrill in- 
troduced into the House two bills that became laws and 
a resolution setting aside old Representatives Hall for 
statuary. The bills were to "suppress polygamy in the 
territories" and "donating public lands to agricultural 
colleges," etc. While in the Senate, he introduced forty- 
nine bills that became laws, thirty-five of a public nature 
and fourteen private, making a total of fifty-one bills in- 
troduced by him that became laws. He reported as ori- 
ginal measures from his committee, thirty-one bills, in- 
cluding his tariff bills; and, applying the same rule as to 
Mr. Grout, this would make his total eighty bills. One 
of these reports was of the tariff bill which bears his 
name. Senator Morrill, while in the House, was on the 
Committee on Ways and Means and Mr. Grout is on its 
great companion committee of Appropriations, both of 
which originate their own bills. 

Senator Edmunds introduced seventy-three bills that 
became laws, of which forty-seven were private, leaving 
twenty-six public acts. 

He also undoubtedly reported some substitute bills, 
but I have not had time to get the exact number. The 
Judiciary Committee, of which he was a member, is not 
given to originating bills as is the case with the Ways 
and Means and Appropriations committees in the House. 

Very truly yours, 

L. A. Coolidge. 



144 



A BOOMERANG 



In a later issue, the Express editorially further said: 
"We give in another column a letter from L. A. Coolidge, 
Washington Correspondent of the Boston Journal, whom 
we asked to look up the records of Senators Morrill and 
Edmunds as to the number of bills introduced by them 

that became laws. We did this because Mr. 

seemed to lay great stress on the fact that General Grout 
had secured the passage of but fifty-six of his bills; 
and because we believed that that number would com- 
pare favorably with the work of Senators Morrill and 
Edmunds. 

Mr. Coolidge adds fourteen public bills to General 
Grout's list making it seventy bills. Applying the same 
rule to Senator Morrill he credits him with eighty bills, 
though but forty-nine that he has introduced became 
laws. And what is worthy of further note is, that in Mr. 
Morrill's twelve years in the House only two bills and 
one resolution that he introduced became laws, though in 
his committee work he reported thirty-one bills, inclu- 
ding his tariff measures; all of which shows how unfair 

is Mr. 's basis of computation. Both Mr. Grout and 

Senator Morrill from the nature of the committees they 
were on reported many original bills that became laws. 

The upshot of the inquiry set on foot by Mr. is 

this: Mr. Grout in sixteen years worked into law seven- 
ty legislative propositions, a little over four and one-half 
per year. Senator Morrill, eighty propositions in forty- 
four years, a little less than two per year. Senator Ed- 
munds, seventy-three propositions in twenty five years, 
a little less than three per year. 

The friends of Mr. Grout are under obligation to the 
opposition for pitching into his record, which, like the 
diamond, grows brighter upon examination. 



145 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Throw another club, Mr. . The most clubs are 

always found under the best apple tree. 

We have asked Mr. Coolidge to give such passages 
in the House as will indicate the quality of General 

Grout's leadership, which Mr. calls in question, and 

expect another letter soon " 

In a still later issue of the Express and Standard 
appeared a second letter from Mr. Coolidge as follows: 

Editor Newport Express: 

"Dear Sir: — You ask that I say something about 
General Grout as a debater and leader in the House. In 
doing this I shall not indulge in opinions of my own, but 
will speak of those passages in the business of the House 
where he gave direction to its action, as shown by the 
Congressional Record. 

Mr. Grout is not a frequent speaker. As a rule, 
he discusses only those matters which he has investigat- 
ed or with which he is otherwise familiar. He never 
talks to the galleries, but always to the subject in hand. 
He is earnest and staightforward in manner and with 
a good voice and graphic diction, he never fails to com- 
mand an attentive hearing. 

The care of one of the appropriation bills, carrying 
thousands of items and millions of dollars, is a severe test 
of leadership in the House. The member in charge 
must be prepared to explain every item and repel all as- 
saults. This requires first, a perfect knowledge of the 
bill; and then tact and judgment in answering objections. 
He who can do this and do it in a spirit of fairness and 
candor is well up in the art of parliamentary leadership. 

Whoever will turn to the Record and read carefully 
the proceedings in considering the five District Appro- 

146 



A BOOMERANG 



priation bills reported by Gen. Grout, commencing with 
the Fifty-fourth Congress, will see that he has been sing- 
ularly fortunate in bringing the House to his views in 
every one of them. An illustration of this was the bill 
reported by him in the last session of the last Congress, 
which went through the House without a single amend- 
ment. His standing in committee is shown by the fur- 
ther fact that the bill was approved by the full commit- 
tee just as it had been prepared by Mr. Grout, without a 
single change. Mr. Courts, who has been clerk of ap- 
propriations for more than a quarter of a century, says 
this never happened before with a District bill, which is 
one of the most difficult in the whole list to handle in the 
House. This single fact shows better than any state- 
ment of mine Mr. Grout's quality as a leader. It could 
not have been done if he had not had the confidence of 
the House, which lies at the very bottom of all success- 
ful leadership. 

Besides his successful piloting of the five appropria- 
tion bills, the record of the second session of the Fifty- 
fourth Congress, commencing on page 767, will show a 
two-days' fight on his bill to put oleomargarine under 
control of state laws, in which he had charge of the bill 
and carried it through the House. 

At the close of the first day's proceedings it looked 
as though he was beaten, inasmuch as his motion for the 
previous question was voted down; but before the result 
was announced he changed his vote and moved to recon- 
sider, and then moved to adjourn, which was finally car- 
ried. Only for this parliamentary manoeuvre he would 
have lost control of the bill. 

During the night he reorganized his forces and in 
the morning returned to the attack. Before adjourn- 
ment the bill went through by a vote of 126 to 96, but fail- 

147 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ed in the Senate. With another section added, this now 
constitutes the "Grout Bill," so called, which is held up 
by the oleomargarine interests in the committee on agri- 
culture though they have agreed to report it Wednesday, 
the 23rd inst. Whoever will turn to the Congressional 
Record and follow this bill during those two days will 
see that General Grout is not only a ready debater but a 
good parliamentarian and a good fighter. 

It is not, however, always in securing the passage of 
bills that leadership in legislative bodies best serves the 
public. Equal and sometimes greater good comes from 
preventing the enactment of improper laws. This was 
ex-Senator Edmunds's favorite role. 

It will be found on page 5374, volume 125 of the Rec- 
ord, Fifty-second Congress, that the famous Sibley tent 
claim was laid on the table on motion of Mr. Grout. The 
claim called for $117,000. A bill like it had twice passed 
the Senate, once on a report by Senator Hoar, and a des- 
perate fight was made to get it through the House. It 
came up March 4th, was before the House March 17, 18, 
and 25, April 15 and 28, May 13 and June 17. It was 
much debated. Mr. Grout made a speech showing its 
groundless character, and finally after four roll calls it 
went on the table by five majority on motion by Mr. 
Grout. Unlike many of these rejected claims which soon 
reappear, it lies there still. 

General Grout's leadership appears nowhere to bet- 
ter advantage than the fight he made against the commit- 
tee's amendments to the Pension Appropriation bill in the 
second session of the Fifty-second Congress. Cleveland 
had just been elected and democratic reform was in the 
saddle. One of their demands was to purge the pension 
roll. The House was democratic and the committee on 
appropriations, of course, democratic. It was General 

148 



A BOOMERANG 



Grout's first term on the appropriations committee, and 
he was at the head of the republican contingent on the 
pension bill. The democratic majority, ambitious to 
purge the pension roll, reported with the bill eight 
amendments, changing in important particulars the pen- 
sion laws, and all, of course, against the "old soldier." 

General Grout, in charge of the minority views, 
made a fight in the House against these amendments 
and all others that were offered, and there were 22 in all. 
The contest was bitter and long, and may be found from 
pages 1430 to 1753 of the Record. All manner of wild 
and extravagant claims were made on the floor, but Gen- 
eral Grout, who was in close communication with the 
Pension Bureau, exploded every one of them. The re- 
sult of this seven-days' fight was that the General knocks 
out every one of the 22 amendments either on points of 
order or by a vote of the House; and the only amend- 
ment that went into the bill was one offered by himself, 
increasing certain appropriations which the hostile dem- 
ocratic committee had left too small. Of course, many 
democrats would not go with their committee in raiding 
the "old soldier," or this could not have been done. But 
the fact remains that he led the House in this hot and bit- 
ter fight and won at every point. 

Cleveland was inaugurated March 4, 1893, and ap- 
pointed William Lochren Commissioner of Pensions. 
Everyone recalls how by administrative orders and prac- 
tices Lochren made havoc with pensions and pensioners, 
thus accomplishing many things the committee on appro- 
priations set out to do the year before by the amend- 
ments above referred to. Mr. Grout was still at the 
head of the minority on the pension appropriation bill, 
and when it came into the House he took occasion to ex- 
pose the management and methods of the Bureau under 

149 



MEMOIR OF VSflLLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Lochren in a speech which may be found on page 2540 of 
the Record of the Fifty-third Congress, 

The speech was stirring and pungent and full of in- 
formation as to the devious ways of the Pension Bureau „ 
It furnished members just the informatien, and in just 
the form they wanted, to send their constituents. Thou- 
sands of copies were subscribed for by them on the spot. 

It touched a responsive chord with the "old soldiers" 
everywhere, and such was the demand for it that 495,000 
copies of it were circulated by the Congressional Cam- 
paign Committee in 1894, a fact that testifies to its high 
character better than can any words of mine. Other strik- 
ing passages in the service of General Grout could be 
referred to, but this letter is already too long. 

Very truly yours, 

L. A. Coohdge. 

The following from a Washington publication fur- 
ther shows the standing of General Grout in Congress: 

TOWN TALK 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

About a year ago in writing of the leading men in 
Congress, Hon. Amos Cummings, the veteran member of 
the Tenth New York District, spoke of General Grout as 
one of the pilots of the House. He illustrated his arti- 
cle with a cut, showmg the grim Vermonter holding 
firmly to the wheel with his sharp, strong features set 
straight to the front. 

This figure well illustrates the man and his standing 
with his fellow members, whose complete confidence he 
enjoys. This faith in him on the part of the House is 
largely the secret of his successful leadership. He is al- 
ways fair and always conciliatory. He is not an orator in 

150 



TOWN TALK 



the large sense, but at the same time is a most effective 
speaker. He never talks for buncombe but when he is 
up the House always listens because it is known he has 
something to say. During the present session General 
Grout has added not a little to his reputation as a suc- 
cessful parliamentary pilot, in the splendid fight he made 
for his Oleomargarine bill and in his management of the 
District of Columbia Appropriation bill, always one of 
the most difficult in the whole list. When this last bill 
was up he held control with a firm hand from start to fin- 
ish and no amendment was adopted that he objected to. 
There was no Uvelier fight this session than was made 
against his anti-oleo bill, but he carried it through the 
House in quick time by over two to one. 

Mr. Grout has long been a prominent figure at the 
Capitol, but this bill has carried his name into every 
state in the Union, hundreds of thousands of petitions 
for the Grout bill having poured in upon members and 
Senators from every nook and corner of the country Its 
author and champion is entitled to the thanks not only of 
butter makers but butter eaters. 

Though in the sixties General Grout is still in the 
prime of mature manhood and March 4th next he will go 
into private life at a time when his services are worth 
more to the people than ever before. 



151 



A CANDIDATE FOR THE SENATE 



William W. Grout was a candidate to succeed Sena- 
tor Morrill; and why not? He was also the oldest son in 
a family of ten children. He also received his educa- 
tion in the common school and the academy. He also 
struggled for the enjoyment of the business of 
his early life. He also made a success of that busi- 
ness. He also began his congressional career in his 45th 
year. He had also served in the lower House 12 years — 
plus. He had also served in an elective capacity, early 
and late, conscientiously, faithfully and accomodatingly. 
He had also in all his congressional work, with good judg- 
ment, selected subjects of interest, to the people of Ver- 
mont and the Country as well. He had also occasional- 
ly, not loquaciously, spoken upon those subjects, to the 
enlightenment and edification of Congress and the pub- 
lic. He had also been more than kind to and considerate 
of the particular interests of his own State. He had also 
served on important committees with an intelligent faith- 
fulness so helpful in legislation. He had also always 
given to the Country what belonged to it, before giving 
to party. He had also been honored, again and again; 
and had burned much midnight oil, in study and effort to 
merit those honorings. 

All this being an open book, known and read by all; 
and being so similar in its many aspects to the life work 
and life of the venerable Senator, in his innermost con- 
sciousness, and yet modestly and patiently, General 
Grout felt in duty bound, to ask why he should not suc- 

152 



A CANDIDATE FOR THE SENATE 



ceed Senator Morrill. He began to realize the irksome- 
ness of service in the House, the tediousness of it year in 
and year out; and the endlessness of its activities. He 
began also to be reminded of the burden of years; and so 
wondered why he should not be allowed to conclude his 
public life in and about the easier work of the Senate. 
Many, well scattered over the State, gave frequent en- 
couragement, that in view of his fine record in the 
House and his natural fitness, he ought as a matter of 
right, to be accorded such a privilege and such an honor; 
for he was not unmindful of a suitable recognition of 
duty done. 

Two years earlier, as a matter of course, seemingly, 
he would have been Senator Morrill's successor; but in 
those two years things happened to order otherwise. 

The things that happened in those two years were 
not important to either State or Nation. They were en- 
tirely unimportant. Absolutely without welfare value to 
any earthly condition. 

They were politics, just simply politics. Nothing 
more, nothing less. 

General Grout, to the last, felt that could his candid- 
acy have been passed upon by direct vote of the peo- 
ple, he would have been Senator Morrill's successor 

He felt that eighteen years arduous service m the 
best of fitting schools for that succession had not been 
fairly understood. He felt that the people, in whom he 
always had confidence, had, by the weird witchery of 
politics, been led into a mistaken view which they would, 
upon reflection and opportunity, only too gladly change. 

Soon after this defeat he suffered a severe financial 
loss; and within a two year, shrouded in the drapery of 
his disappointments, he bade the world adieu, joining his 



153 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WA LLACE GROUT . 

kind friend, the noble Senator, in the next world; with 
him to share the day of unending joy. 

General Grout's funeral was largely attended by 
prominent men from all parts of the State; by a legisla- 
tive committee from Montpelier; by delegations from 
Banks and different societies, by neighbors from the 
neighborhood; filling his large home and grounds to a 
great overflow. 

The Rev. Edward Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, with 
whom he attended school at St. Johnsbury Academy, con- 
ducted the services. 

He was interred in Grove Cemetery, in the family 
lot, on a beautiful slope overlooking the ancestral home 
where with his kin he sleeps the sleep of an active, in- 
dustrious, useful, upright life. 



154 



EXPRESSIONS OF ESTEEM 

No sooner had William W. Grout breathed his last 
than the wires flashed the sad intelligence the country 
over. 

The associated press made quick work of telling, 
through thousands of papers, that Ex-Congressman 
William W. Grout had passed away. It was at once 
known from San Francisco to Boston and from Palm 
Beach to Bangor, that the Canadian bom boy had made 
a proud record of 66 years of active, honorable life; and 
filled it with acts and deeds of usefulness and value to 
his country, honor to his family and fame to himself. 
Some of these paper notices emphasized in detail, the 
leading features of his congressional career. It was in- 
teresting to note how much California knew of what he 
had done for Vermont and country. The press of the 
State, coming to one view in the presence of death, spoke 
to the "pale realms" as well as to the quick, the words of 
truth, praise and honor. 

The following Joint Resolution was adopted by the 
legislature then in session at Montpelier, the day follow- 
ing his death: 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, That we learn with great sorrow the death of Wil- 
liam W. Grout of Barton. His great service as lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment of Vermont Volun- 
teers in the War of the Rebellion, as brigadier-general of 
militia when the safety of our State was menaced, and 
St. Albans raided in 1864, as member of the House of 

155 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

Representatives in 1868, '69, 70 and 74, and Senator 
serving as president pro tempore in 1876, and as a Rep- 
resentative from the third district to the 47th, and from 
the second district to the 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 
55th and 56th Congresses of the United States, mark 
him as a distinguished Vermonter, and his death at 66 
years of age is deeply deplored. 

Resolved, That a committee of five from the House 
of Representatives and five from the Senate be appointed 
to attend his funeral. 

Resolved, That as a tribute to the memory of the de- 
ceased, the House and Senate take a recess from two 
o'clock to three o'clock on the ninth instant, it being the 
hour of the funeral service. 

The Grand Army of the Republic, then encamped in 
Washington, D. C, adopted the following resolution: 

Resolved, That in the death of our comrade. Gener- 
al W. W. Grout, we have lost not only a brave and faith- 
ful comrade, but a true and untiring friend, who in all 
his private and public life has ever been mindful of and 
helpful to his comrades. He never turned a deaf ear to 
any soldier but was always ready with time and pen to 
advance their interests in Congress and at the pension 
department. During his long, faithful service in Con- 
gress, he was ever mindful not only of the interests of 
Vermont, but of the whole nation. Brave as a soldier, 
faithful and untiring as a public servant, his record is 
most honorable and will ever be cherished by his com- 
rades and all Vermonters. 

The Orleans County Court in session at Newport, 
acted as follows: 

At the close of the forenoon session, Thursday, W. 
W. Miles moved, and the Court ordered a recess until 
Friday morning at nine o'clock, out of respect to the 

156 



EXPRESSIONS OF ESTEEM 



memory of General W. W. Grout, deceased, who was a 
member of the bar and at one time in practice in this 
county, and whose funeral was to be held on Thursday 
afternoon. 

The Vermont Society of the Sons of the American 
Revolution adopted the following resolution: 

Whereas, in the providence of God, our brother, Wil- 
liam W. Grout, has passed beyond our immediate fellow- 
ship: 

Therefore resolved, 1st. That we sorrowfully miss 
him from our gatherings, our social life, our patriotic 
counsels in affairs of State; and from those profounder 
deliberations pertaining to the welfare of the nation. 
That we appreciate the eminent services he rendered 
both State and country. 

The following extracts from editorials of a few pa- 
pers are given to show the unbiased judgment of Gener- 
al Grout's work and standing in both private and public 
Jife. 

CALEDONIAN 

A true and tried public servant was called home yes-^ 
terday morning when ex-Congressman Grout died. For 
a quarter of a century he has been in public life, always 
battling for the right as he saw it, and always ready to 
expose the shams and tricks of those on the wrong side. 
His death is keenly felt in St. Johnsbury where he had a 
host of friends. Of him it can be truly said, "Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant." 

PALLADIUM 

The Honorable William Wallace Grout died at his 
home in East St. Johnsbury on Tuesday morning the 7th 
inst., and the funeral services are being held this after- 

157 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

noon. Thus has passed another brave and manly man 
who "In storm and tempest was rock and oak; in sun- 
shine, vine and flower." He served his country long and 
well— not merely in the performance of the perfunctory 
duties of a politician — but as a legislator, a statesman 
and a warrior. His first public service was as its defend- 
er. When a young man he volunteered, raised a com- 
pany of militia and marched outward to keep the old flag 
afloat. For nearly two score years he was a potent fac- 
tor in the affairs of this state and in many ways, in those 
of the federal government. Loyal to his country, true to 
his friends, upright everywhere, zealous in everything, a 
lover of nature in all its varied charms, he has gone to 
final rest amid the scenes he cherished while in life and 
with the profound respect of his associates in public life 
and the abiding affection of his neighbors and kindred. 

MONTPELIER JOURNAL 

There is no need to write the incidents and the re- 
sult of a senatorial contest which rent the state. These 
are still fresh in the minds of General Grout's survivors. 
He bore the disappointment of his cherished hopes with 
the fortitude he had always met defeat; and he was most 
manly in a defeat that like iron entered his soul. No 
^ sound of anguish escaped him and he met his opponents 

I with that grim good cheer born of a quarter of a century 

of political strife. No one will question the desire of 
General Grout always to serve his country well and faith- 
fully. No one will pay him sincerer homage than those 
who had opposed him and who in their opposition had ex- 
perienced 

"The stern joy that warriors feel 
In foemen worthy of their steel." 



158 



EXPRESSIONS OF ESTEEM 



BURLINGTON NEWS 

His political life was the most stormful recorded in 
the modern history of Vermont. It opened with his fa- 
mous Struggle with Bradley Barlow, was marked later on 
by his overthrow by Judge Poland, and closed with the 
memorable senatorial contest of two years ago. 

But with all this, his service in the National House 
was longer than that of any other Vermonter; and, had 
he chosen, his term of service there might have been co- 
incident with his life. 

And these long years in Washington were years of 
active and useful work— useful to his constituents and 
his country, and honorable to himself. No Representa- 
tive ever paid closer attention to the desires and needs of 
his constituents; and none was more faithful and consci- 
entious in the discharge of duty. 

Personally, General Grout was frank, genial and un- 
assuming; and enjoyed marked popularity among all 
classes. His friends were legion, and his death will be 
generally and sincerely lamented. 

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS 

General Grout's name was identified with various 
important acts of Congress in one form or another, and 
his voice was heard on the right side of the great ques- 
tions before the country at different times during his 
congressional career. His position on the house commit- 
tee having charge of the affairs of the District of Colum- 
bia brought him into close touch with the residents of 
Washington and his faithfulness to their interests won 
for him a host of friends at the national capital. Con- 
gressman Grout was assiduous in his attentions to the in- 
terests and demands of his constituents and he gained a 
powerful following in the State. He never posed as a 

159 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALL ACE GROUT 

great statesman, but he made a more useful lawmaker 
for his State and nation than many who make greater 
pretensions than did he; and his congressional career was 
most creditable to his constituents as well as to himself. 
General Grout was honored in life and in his death he 
will be sincerely mourned by the people of Vermont. 

BRATTLEBORO PHOENIX 

General Grout's long term of service in the House 
was marked by strict fidelity to the interests of his con- 
stituency. He was untiring in personal attention to the 
individual wants of the people of his district, and he was 
equally diligent in the study of all problems of legislation 
which affected the welfare of the people. His speeches 
on numerous occasions were exhaustive of the subjects 
under consideration, and he was often called in counsel 
when matters of important legislation or political inter- 
ests were under consideration. He possessed a strong in- 
dividuality and his political followers were bound to him 
with rare loyalty and devotion. He leaves a great body 
of personal friends who sincerely mourn his death, 
whether they did or did not sympathize with all his po- 
litical ambitions. 

BURLINGTON CLIPPER 

General Grout loved Vermont. He loved the people 
of the State and he was ever doing that which would do 
her good. Few men have ever held the old common- 
wealth more dearly than he. Throughout his public life 
he never lost an opportunity that would benefit his State. 
Hundreds of citizens, especially the old soldiers, never 
had a better or a stronger friend. 

Genial in spirit, approachable at all times, he con- 
stantly added to his friends and decreased his enemies. 
True, he was a fighter in his political contests and his op- 

160 



EXPRESSIONS OF ESTEEM 



ponents knew they had work ahead, that if they won it 
would require the Hmit of their energy. Yet, he was a 
fair fighter. With him there were no ghosts lurking in 
ambush, no niggers in woodpiles, no transaction that 
needed a mask. His adversaries were well aware of his 
above board dealings. His word was as good as a gov- 
ernment bond— the gold bearing kind. He never forsook 
a friend and he never ran from an enemy. And such 
men make and build a nation. 

General Grout was honored by the people. He was in 
nine Congresses and became a power in that body. There, 
too, where is gathered so much of the brains of the na- 
tion, he was respected, loved and honored. His familiar 
figure was missed when he no longer cared to be there. 
By his former associates and the people in Washington 
he is mourned as deeply as by the people of his home. 

Vermont might well have more men of the calibre 
and mind texture of General Grout. 

Today the State mourns his departure to the great 
beyond. 

Tomorrow he will not have been forgotten. 

The memory of General Grout, his life and his deeds 
will pass on to the generations to come. 

"Thou wert my guide, philosopher and friend." 
ST. JOHNSBURY REPUBLICAN 

Another distinguished name has been added to the 
roll of the great majority. The news of the death of 
General William W. Grout, which occurred early Tues- 
day morning, comes to us all with a deep sense of per- 
sonal loss that cannot be expressed in words. The sad 
fact can hardly be realized. His death is a distinct and 
serious calamity to the State, as it is a source of irrepar- 
able grief to a large circle of personal friends. 

161 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

The public career of William W. Grout is an open 
book and the page is without a stain. While he was a 
Republican of the most pronounced type upon all the 
great economic questions that divide the parties, he gave 
to these questions close study and practical application 
and was always fair in giving expression to his views. 
During his long and distinguished career in Congress his 
colleagues, even his opponents, praised his courtesy; and 
his firmness, honesty of purpose and practical ability won 
for him the respect of all with whom he came in contact. 
His judgment was clear, strong and practical. His con- 
victions were always a fixed quantity. He was never 
tossed about by the uncertain winds of expediency, and, 
as a result, his public record is one of fidelity to duty and 
of honor alike to himself and the State that has always 
delighted to do him honor. 

To his mourning friends it is a consolation that 
though he has passed through that great change which 
we have to call death, yet he still lives, lives in the fra- 
grance which his busy helpful life shed; lives in the 
loving remembrance of those who best knew him; lives 
in that higher, nobler, and better, unending life of which 
this is only the preparation and threshold. 

LYNDONVILLE JOURNAL 

In the death of General W. W. Grout Vermont loses 
one of her foremost citizens; a man of sterling qualities 
of whom it can be truly said, he was a gentleman and a 
statesman. 

paragraphs from the late hon. george n. 
dale's book of memoirs 

When the stirring figure of young Grout appeared; 
his nature was well adapted to the spirit of the times; he 
was open, frank and reliable. Filled with an ardent de- 

162 



EXPRESSIONS OF ESTEEM 



sire for success, he was intensely ambitious; and went to 
the Bar in every way well equipped. He was soon rec- 
ognized for his aggressive activity. He early attracted 
attention in his profession; and with an undaunted will 
and courage became a formidable lawyer. 

He was humane, devoted, self-sacrificing; and has 
left a long, substantial, eventful and beneficial work; a 
challenge that his constituency was always well repre- 
sented. 

He ever defended the honor and glory of Vermont 
and his country. He made more practical speeches in 
Congress, that attracted more flattering attention by 
their literary and historic merit, than the average repre- 
sentative. He grew to be one of the most diflftcult men 
in Congress to get off his feet in an encounter. He had 
a flashing blade that struck here and there to make way 
for his logic, but his ardent desire to heal all wounds out- 
ran the haste in which they were made; and kept him en- 
deared to his adversaries. 

His mind was never idle, and the base and peaks of 
Vermont's military, legislative, and literary achieve- 
ments show marks of his industrious visitation. 

Fortunate man! He lived in glowing times that met 
the ardor of his nature. His work was speeded to the 
highest point, and when finished, he fell asleep in his 
grand old ancestral home in the happiest land on earth. 

For the living it is sad. It is a sad time for Ver- 
mont. It is a peculiarly sad time for the old school men, 
each of whom has sustained heavy local, state and public 
responsibilities; for their ranks are being sadly decimat- 
ed. They are being suddenly and forever summoned 
away — 

And like the waters rushing 
Among the wooden piers, 
A flood of thoughts come o'er us 
That fills our eyes with tears. 

163 



A CONCLUDING WORD AND 
A COMPARISON 

Many letters of respect and sympathy came from 
those who had served with him in Congress, including 
Senators; as well as from friends and acquaintances, far 
and near. These letters were kind, sympathetic and re- 
minding. They refer to many, very many acts and 
deeds of courtesy and service, of one kind and another, 
inducing expressions of appreciation. 

The women, proud of him as President of the Con- 
gressional Temperance Society, and as defender of Tem- 
perance and the Sabbath, in his work in the District of 
Columbia, sounded his unending praise. 

I have brought the foregoing together that the life of 
William W. Grout might appear more completely for 
study and appreciation. Have been led to do this be- 
cause of the initiative and objective of his public career. 

I wanted to have it clearly appear who actually ori- 
ginated and caused to be enacted; or took a leading or a 
most helpful part, as the case might have been, in the en- 
actment of certain national laws of importance and some 
of very great importance. 

For instance, I wanted it known who was the abso- 
lute, unquestionable author of the Oleomargarine Statute; 
which, in the last twenty years, has put into the national 
treasury millions upon millions of revenue; and into the 
hands of the farmer millions and millions of dollars; and 
meantime told the butter eater when he was eating oleo- 

164 



A CONCLUDING WORD AND COMPARISON 

margarine and when he was eating butter; and which, it 
is hoped, will for all time continue to confer the same or 
similar blessings upon the Government, producer and 
consumer. Few statutes have been or will be put into 
the national code of greater import to the country from 
end to end and side to side, than this. It has done more 
to encourage, elevate and dignify the dairy industry than 
any other one thing, if not all other things. A peru- 
sal of his congressional record, heretofore given, will 
show how early he conceived, and how patiently he pur- 
sued; and finally, how skilfully and ably, against the tre- 
mendous opposition of all the packing house interests of 
the Country and all their untold money, through days of 
the hardest fighting, he led the enactment of this great 
law. Had he done nothing else, this alone should ever- 
more bless his memory. 

A further examination of his record shows that he 
was almost entirely instrumental in securing for the City 
of Washington Rock Creek Park, one of the most beauti- 
fel park reservations in the whole country, and a great 
addition to the attractions of the capitol city of the Na- 
tion. It will some day be the gateway to the North of 
the great Lincoln way to the historic battlefield of Gettys- 
burg, already in contemplation. The appropriation for 
this park was strenuously opposed in the House by mem- 
bers from all over the country, who were not so much in- 
terested in improvements for the City of Washington, as 
for an appropriation in their own district. 

In this connection it can be seen how, by reason of 
being so long upon the District Committee, and upon the 
Committee on Appropriations, he secured for the City of 
Washington many needed, desirable and substantial im- 
provements; and also how he defended it against the en- 
croachments of the Railroads, the fraud of contracts, and 

165 



IWEMOm OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

' -T i n n ■■ 1- ■ ■ — ■ fi ■■ ■■ , 1 m ■ ! ■■ ■■ -■ ■ ■ ri rr ■ n i 

all manner of personal greed. He hoped some day our 
national city would be the most beautiful city in the 
world. He regarded it not the city of its locality but the 
City of the United States of America; and was it not no- 
ble to have two men from little Vermont, who did so 
much to sanitize, improve, and beautify the Nation's cap- 
itol, in so many ways as Morrill and Grout? 

If you care to know how he defended the treasury 
against unwarrantable inroads and assisted in the dispo- 
sition of claims by and against the Government, study 
his speeches on the Sibley tent bill, the Pacific Railroad 
Indebtedness, and different District of Columbia matters; 
also on the French Spoliation and Geneva Award Claims, 
where he made clear and greatly aided a final disposi- 
tion of these matters. 

If you care to know how he viewed patriotism, diso- 
bedience of orders on the battlefield, and an attempt by 
Congress to disturb a most considerate, just judgment up- 
on such conduct, upon partisan grounds, read his scath- 
ing speech on Fitz-John Porter. 

If you care to know his regard for the farmer and 
the agricultural welfare of the United States, read his 
speeches on creating an Executive Department out of the 
Bureau of Agriculture, on taxing oleomargarine, on the Es- 
tablishment of Agricultural Experiment Stations, on the 
Maple Sugar Bounty, against putting wool on the Free 
List and on Free Homesteads. 

If you care to know his record on temperance and 
morality read his speeches on the seating of Brigham H. 
Roberts; and the Canteen in the Army. 

If you care to know his work on the tariff and sound 
money read his speech called "Vermont and Ken- 
tucky," and the one called "The Robber Barons," and the 
one called "The Silver Ox." 

166 



A CONCLUDING WORD AND COMPARISON 

- , ^ „ ,, „ ■■ - ■ M M ■ •■ ■■ ■■ —■■■■■ I ■■ ■ ■ ■ ■■ ■■ W II ilfc 

If you care to know his regard for the old soldier, 
read his speech on the Democratic Administration of the 
Pension Office called "The Recording Angel." 

If you care to know the particular things he did for 
Vermont remember the Maple Sugar Bounty, the St. 
Johnsbury Fish Hatchery, the Newport and St. Albans 
public buildings, the Memphremagog Collection District, 
Fort Ethan Allen, and other similar matters. If New- 
port city feels gratejul for its public building, it should 
thank General Grout, and no one else. 

If you want to know how he stood with his associ- 
ates in Congress, as a constructor of legislation, and a 
manager of the same on the floor of the House, read 
Coolidge letters. 

If you care to know how he stood on Special Com- 
mittee work of which he did his full share, examine the 
record as to the Soldiers Home at Leavenworth, the 
Cobb- Watson investigation etc., etc. 

If you care to know his services on Memorial occa- 
sions read his remarks on the death of Senator Morrill. 

A COMPARISON 

The Morrill land grant college law benefits educa* 
tionally, at the expense of the Government; a great gen- 
eral benefit to the whole country. 

The Grout Oleomargarine law benefits industrially, 
agriculturally, does justice by the manufacturer; and 
year after year greatly remunerates the treasury. 

One law is as important in its way as the other. 

The Congressional Library building is not more im- 
portant to Washington City than Rock Creek Park. 

Other benefits conferred upon the nation's capitol by 
Vermont's longest term servants in Congress, are fairly 
of equal importance. 

167 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

I know comparison is odious; yet I ask you to place 
side by side, the full record of all General Grout's con- 
gressional work, during his eighteen years' service at 
Washington, with the work of any other man who ever 
served in Congress from Vermont. I do this nothing 
fearing a fair, just judgment. 

I do it remembering his natural ability, his remark- 
able activity, his untiring endeavor, his capable applica- 
tion, his sense of duty, his pride of accomplishment, his 
breadth of conception, his concern for all, of all classes 
and conditions; and his lofty view of things well done. 
These characteristics always lead to beneficent results. 
He was constantly at work upon some kind of legislation 
that would better existing conditions. 

His life was an unbending energy, an unceasing de- 
sire for a better and from such always comes the world's 
best. 

Briefly then you have William Wallace Grout from 
the cradle to the grave. You are told the humble origin 
of his life. How it unfolded and established itself. 
How it made its stormy way from stormy beginnings. 
How it asserted and accomplished. How, spring- 
ing from the loins of toil it became the embodiment 
of year in and year out hard work. How, through 
stress and strife, it found its final lead, dispensing there- 
from, right and left, favors public and private. 

Kind reader, adieu. Thank you for your patience. 
I will leave you to such reflections as may occur. 



168 



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GENERAL GROUT'S FARMING 

It would not be justice to the life of General Grout, 
to omit his farm and farming. 

Upon the old homestead, he put changes and im- 
provements, rendering it one of the best farms in Ver- 
mont. 

It consisted of about 600 acres, well divided into til- 
lage, pasture and woodland. It was well drained, fenced, 
and kept in a high state of cultivation. 

He kept high grade stock consisting of about 50 good 
cows and 100 horses. 

While he enjoyed his dairy, he especially enjoyed 
his horses; and they were some of the best to be found 
anywhere. 

Some of his horses were spry steppers; but more es- 
pecially were they proud, handsome drivers. 

An illustration of his farm buildings on the opposite 
page, affords a better idea of him as a farmer than words 
of mine can convey. 

He enjoyed his farm and farming to the last; and 
never lost sight of nor neglected the duty to make two 
blades grow where one had grown. 



169 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED BY 

HON. WILLIAM W. GROUT 
AT THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL BANQUET 

OF THE 

SONS OF VERMONT 

IN CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 

JANUARY 17, 1893 

This address is here given for the history, the patri- 
otism and the fraternity it teaches, to say nothing of its 
literary value. It is well worth the reading. 

Mr, President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

We are in the midst of great anniversary events. 
Four hundred years ago a great man, who first saw the 
light of this world at the foot of the Appenines, on the 
western coast of the Italian peninsula, and whose great 
soul was shut in by the mountains behind him, looked 
off to the West, out over the trackless deep; and saw 
great continents of land standing out upon the bosom of 
the unexplored ocean; from the mysterious expanse and 
the nameless terrors of which the stoutest hearts shrunk 
in dismay. The genius of this great spirit was ever 
beckoning him out over the waste of waters to a new 
world, which he sought by sailing due west; and though 
sovereigns hesitated and councils of wise men de- 
nounced, as chimerical, yet this greatest and brav- 
est of navigators wavered not in his purpose. He 

170 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

clung steadfastly to the great thought, that set aside 
all others, gradually overcame all objections; and at 
last led him through all difficulties to this land of won- 
drous wealth and beauty. 

Four hundred years ago yesterday, Columbus left 
Fort La Navidad (constructed, as you will remember, from 
the wreck of his largest vessel, the St. Marie), in charge 
of forty-three Europeans and went back to Spain. When 
he returned, ten months later, the fort had been burned 
and not a survivor of the garrison was left, to tell the 
story of their massacre. Thus inauspiciously began the 
colonization of the new world. Nevertheless it went 
rapidly forward. Hither came the hardy and enterpris- 
ing of every clime and people. The wilderness gave 
place to fertile fields. The picturesque waterfall was 
harnessed to the wheels of industry, and everywhere 
arose the shop and factory. Population multiplied, gov- 
ernments were formed, and today 

Forty-four states, confederate in one, 

Keep their starry stations around the western sun. 

Forty-four in one, under one flag, the flag of liberty; be- 
neath which stand seventy millions of people free and 
happy. A people of greater aggregate wealth and enjoy- 
ing more largely the comforts of life than any other peo- 
ple on the face of the globe. A people, also, leading all 
others in agriculture, manufactures and commerce; lead- 
ing also in the construction of railways, telegraph and 
telephone lines, so that there are, strange as it may seem, 
more miles of each within the limits of this infant repub- 
lic, than in all other nations of the world. 

As civilization pushed its way across the continent, 
towns and cities sprang up like corn blades. Sixty-two 
years ago, theKplace where we stand tonight was a low, 
marshy plain at the mouth of the Chicago River, and 

171 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

partly under the waters of Lake Michigan. Now, here 
stands in resplendent beauty the second city of this con- 
tinent, and the eighth city of the world. 

To this magic city of the mighty west, have been 
invited all the peoples of all the earth, to celebrate 
the four hundredth anniversary of the wonderful discov- 
ery of this wonderful land, where all these wonderful 
works have been wrought. And as the people of our 
own and other countries gather here, wonderful, also, 
will appear to them the stupendous exposition buildings, 
to which they will be welcomed; one of which is the lar- 
gest single building ever spread by man under the can- 
opy of heaven. 

Take down your books of history and read of the or- 
igin and progress of civilization in the earth; of its slow 
growth through thousands of years in Egypt, Chaldea, 
Greece and Rome; and when you come to the discovery, 
the settlement and development of this continent, all 
crowded into the brief period of four hundred years, it 
reads like a romance; like a tale from the Arabian 
Nights. The muse of history, of veritable history, was 
never before furnished facts, the plain recital of which, 
rivals the wildest dreams of fiction. This is true not 
only of our country as a whole, but of every section of it. 
Every state has a history peculiar to itself, and full of in- 
terest. But there is one dear little state, constituting a 
very small part of this fair land, the unique history of 
which transcends the romantic, and partakes of the he- 
roic and sublime. Need I tell you that I refer to the gal- 
lant little State of Vermont? 

"Land of the mountain and the rock. 
Of lofty hill and lowly glen, 

* * * * 

Where, nursed by the tempest's shock, 
Is found a race of iron men." 

172 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

Can we do better, my friends, in the few minutes I 
shall detain you this evening, than to touch briefly upon 
some of the salient points in the heroic birth and intrepid 
career of this valiant little commonwealth, which fought 
her way into the Union, and fought valiantly for the pres* 
ervation of that Union; and in tender memory of which, 
you, her sons and daughters, get yourselves together an- 
nually to welcome from her some message and hear the 
sweet voices of childhood. And now, like a poem in gen- 
tle rhythm, come tender memories of the old homestead 
on the hillside, the trout brook near by, the tinkling cow- 
bell coming up the lane, the apple-parings and husking- 
bees, the skating and sugar parties, the sleigh-rides and 
spelling schools and of that New England nursery of 
learning, the district school-house, where, from the al- 
phabet up, you learned to read in concert of 

"The old oaken bucket — the iron-bound bucket. 
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well." 

This beautiful song is so fresh on your lips and so 
expressive of your feelings, that you will readily join in 
continuing to read 

"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood; 

When fond recollection presents them to view; 

The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, 

And every loved spot which my infancy knew; 

The wide-spreading pond and the mill that stood by it. 

The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell; 

The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it. 

And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well; 

The old oaken bucket — the iron-bound bucket. 

The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well." 

In a recent conversation with a distinguished feder- 
al judge of a western state, he asked: "Why is it that 
Vermonters, whom one meets everywhere throughout 
the West, manifest for one another an attachment, and 

173 



ME MOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

for their native state a pride not noticeable among those 
from other states?" And I ask, why is it? It cannot be 
Byron's reason, that 

"High mountains are a feeling, but the hum 
Of human cities torture:" 

For New Hampshire has high mountains, though not 
green to their very summits, nor dotted with homesteads 
well up their rugged sides, like those of Vermont, thus 
bringing them into the very life of her inhabitants, and 
making hardy and free the dwellers among them. But 
still New Hampshire has mountains, grand old mount- 
ains, and yet her people have never been thought clan- 
nish, nor to have cherished the fond conceit that their 
state was best; that their daughters were the fairest and 
their sons the bravest. 

According to an old Latm maxim "Mountaineers are 
always freemen." They are also credited with a strong 
attachment for the place of their birth, even discerning 
almost in the crags and peaks about their mountain 
homes a look of kindly recognition; and doubtless Kil- 
lington. Camel's Hump, Mansfield and Jay Peak are to 
some extent responsible for the continued interest which 
Vermonters manifest for the state of their birth. But 
this, alone, will hardly account for the annual assemblies 
of the sons of Vermont in every great city across the con- 
tinent. Nor can any supposed difference between the or- 
iginal stock which settled Vermont and the other New 
England states be admitted as accounting for this not- 
able trait of Vermonters, for the stock is identical; all 
Puritan in origin — Vermont having been settled by emi- 
grants from all the other New England states, from 
every one of which was carried many a name to the Ver- 
mont towns. 

What then is the real reason for this singular state 

174 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BA NQUET 

pride among the people of Vermont? I will tell you. It 
is because of her heroic early history; because of the 
brave deeds and wise statesmanship of the men who 
built a state, not out of an ordinary wilderness, but out 
of a tract of country which no human being had ever be- 
fore dared occupy as a home; not with the ordinary inci- 
dents which attended the settlement and admission into 
the Union of the other states, but through a series of stir- 
ring events sometimes bordering even on the tragic, thus 
making the early history of Vermont wholly unlike that 
of any other state, and filling it with passages of valor 
and wisdom, which not only appeal to the pride of Ver- 
monters, but challenge the admiration of all. The des- 
tiny of a people is always largely shaped by their early 
history. If that be striking and grand, it is a continuing 
inspiration to high and noble action. And especially 
powerful, with the children, is the appeal of historic 
deeds of arms of the fathers; while distinguished service 
upon the ever present problem of Civil Government 
stands as a beacon and a guide to future generations. 

I think it was Uionysius of Halicarnassus who said: 
"History is philosophy teaching by example." All know 
that the effect of precept is slow and tedious, if indeed it 
does not sometimes fail to take effect, while the influence 
of example is quick and effectual. But let us, for just a 
moment, see what there may be in the early history of 
our state to distinguish it from the others, and justify 
this strong state feeUng everywhere apparent. 

It is a singular fact that up to about 1760, when our 
grandfathers settled in Vermont,— with the exception of 
a few families who had moved into Windham County 
about 1724,— the whole territory was uninhabited. From 
time immemorial it seems to have been set apart as a 
kind of martial arena dedicated to hostile expeditions 

175 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

' " '■ Tl ■■ ■■ 11 11 II ij II II ■■ -- — -- -- Tl ■■ [ 

and enterprises. The aboriginal tribes, even, did not oc- 
cupy it. They looked upon it as neutral ground. The 
fierce Pequots were upon the south, the blood-thirsty 
Coossucks and wild tribes of the Saint Francis on the 
north and northeast, and on the west, the warlike and 
powerful Iriquois. All these tribes looked upon the 
Green Mountains as a sort of charmed yet fated spot, 
common as a hunting and battle ground to all, but safe 
as a home for none. It was constantly traversed by all 
these tribes in their hostile expeditions against each 
other, and must have been the theatre of the most ap- 
palling Indian conflicts, and had come to be regarded, — 
as is the brief space between contending armies, — dan- 
gerous ground. 

Such, in brief, was the condition of the territory of 
Vermont in aboriginal times; and much the same state 
of things was continued during the colonial period. In 
1534, the French navigator, Cartier, discovered Canada 
and the St. Lawrence, which, under the law of nations, 
gave the French all that vast territory drained by the St. 
Lawrence and its tributaries, including, of course, the 
great chain of lakes. In the last Atlantic Monthly the 
early history of Illinois, under French rule, forms the 
romantic back-ground of the mteresting serial story. 
Old Kaskaskia. 

Later, Marquette pushed westward with the cross of 
the Jesuit Fathers, even to the banks of the Mississippi, 
the mouths of which were afterwards discovered by La 
Salle, another Frenchman, which gave the great valley to 
the French, also. Meanwhile, the English had taken pos- 
session of the entire Atlantic seaboard from Maine to 
Georgia, and had pushed their settlements northward to- 
ward Vermont as far as Deerfield, Massachusetts. With 
the French thus upon the north and the English upon the 

176 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

south;— and they old time enemies, and not only at war 
at home, but from the very first fiercely contending for 
supremacy here in the new world,— the territory of Ver- 
mont, during that series of Indian and colonial wars 
which ran through nearly a century and a half, was 
still dangerous ground,— the pathway of advancing and 
retreating armies and the lurking place of their savage 
allies. It was still uninhabited. The French had been 
on the north for more than two centuries; the English 
for more than a century and a quarter on the south, 
but the settler had halted both on the north and south 
just outside the limits of Vermont. No set of men had 
then been found brave enough to undertake the work of 
wresting from nature's grasp her rugged hillsides and 
mountain slopes. 

In 1759, however, the question of empire on the con- 
tinent was settled by Wolfe and Montcalm before the 
walls of Quebec, and the territory of Vermont was re- 
lieved from these dire influences of war, and promptly 
occupied by a set of brave, hardy pioneers who carved 
for themselves homes out of the mountain wilderness, 
and there set up in peace, at last, their household gods. 
Suddenly, however, this territory, which no one in the 
centuries back, — not even the Indian tribes, — had dared 
to own, so excited the cupidity of the surrounding colo- 
nies, that it was claimed, in part, by New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts, and wholly, by New York. And, as if 
this region, so long left to the wild antics of war, would 
not without strife be subject to civilization, these claims, 
as all know, were resisted with spirit by the brave men 
whose firesides were at stake, and resulted in a stirring 
border war, which lasted a quarter of a century, and 
ended only with the admission of Vermont into the Un- 



177 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ion, in 1791. Surely this was a romantic beginning, but 
it is only a small part of the whole story. 

The people of Vermont, finding themselves in arm- 
ed conflict with New York, encompassed on all sides, 
by Canada on the North, with subtle and grasp- 
ing policies of statecraft; petitioned Congress for relief; 
and being advised by that body to submit to the juris- 
diction of New York, just twenty days after the Decla- 
ration of Independence, on the twenty-fourth day 
of July, 1776, met in convention at Dorset, and, 
at an adjourned meeting in the following January, 
one hundred and sixteen years ago today, de- 
clared their territory "To be forever thereafter 
a free and independent jurisdiction or State," thus 
standing out independent of all surroundings; of King, 
Congress and Governor-General of Canada, and especial- 
ly of New York, heedful only of the laws which they 
themselves should make for their own Government, 
and of their allegiance to the Eternal One who rules 
with the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of 
earth. 

Tell me, what people in history, so few in numbers, 
ever before took such a daring step as this? But they 
did not rest on their declaration. They came out early, 
ten years before the federal constitution was adopted, 
and six months before the old articles of confederation 
were agreed to, with a written constitution which, with 
slight changes, is the organic law of Vermont today and 
a model of its kind; providing in careful detail for the ex- 
ercise of every function of government, legislative, ex- 
ecutive and judicial, even to authority for the establish- 
ment of a Court of Chancery, a branch of jurisprudence 
then in the infancy of its modern jurisdiction; providing 
also for an army, by declaring in these words: 

178 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

'The inhabitants of this state shall be trained and 
armed for its defense," and later, by legislative enact- 
ment, creating a Post Office Department with a Post Mas- 
ter General, and authorizing the coinage of money, and 
the issue of bills of credit, both of which were entered 
upon, and the counterfeiting of which was made punish- 
able by death. Thus resolutely and with a heroism eas- 
ily rivaling that of the most enterprising peoples in all 
history, did Vermont assert her individuality and fling 
her flag to the breeze. 

But, quite as striking, and more significant of the 
spirit of liberty which had her dwelling place in the 
hearts of these mountaineers, were the provisions in that 
constitution concerning slavery and the freedom of re- 
ligious belief and instruction. The very first section of 
it contains this language: 

"No male person, born in this country, or brought 
from over sea, shall be holden by law to serve any per- 
son as a servant, slave or apprentice after he arrives at 
the age of twenty-one years; nor female in like manner 
after she arrives at the age of eighteen years, unless they 
are bound by their own consent after they arrive at such 
age or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, 
fines, costs or the Hke." 

This shows that the Vermont judge was indulging in 
no freak of fancy, but was simply obeying the constitu- 
tion of his state, when he refused to surrender to his al- 
leged owner a fugitive slave, for want of a bill of sale 
from the great Creator, in whose sovereign grace, alone, 
is the liberty of man. Fix in your minds that it was in 
1777, that the Green Mountain Boys first put into their 
organic law this prohibition of slavery, while every one 
of the colonies, at that time, tolerated the institution. 
Fix also in your minds that it was not only the first con- 

179 



MEMO IR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

stitutional provision of the kind on this continent, but 
the first ever put forth by any people anywhere on the 
face of the globe; and tell me, is it any wonder that Ver- 
monters point with pride to this grand passage in their 
history? 

Let there be no doubt as to the correctness of this 
claim. It is true in 1772, Lord Mansfield held that slav- 
ery did not exist in England, but this was not a constitu- 
tional provision. It was only a judicial finding that, as 
man's natural state was freedom, he could not be held to 
servitude without express authority for it, which, the 
Court found, did not exist in the English law. Besides, 
this decision applied only to the United Kingdom and 
not to her colonial possessions, in which slavery every- 
where existed. Why, a motion to suppress the slave 
trade failed in the House of Commons, in 1776, and did 
not become law until 1807; while slavery, itself, was not 
abolished throughout English jurisdiction until 1833. 
France followed in 1848; the Dutch in 1863, and the Unit- 
ed States of America, in 1865, with the thirteenth amend- 
ment; the four brief lines of which are the bloody con- 
tribution of the late Civil struggle to the constitutional 
law of the Republic; and cost us, as a whole people, 
three quarters of a million of lives, and five thousand 
millions of treasure; yes, three-fold that sum when the 
destruction of property and values on both sides is taken 
into the account. But the ghost of that war cannot 
"shake its gory locks" at Vermont, though she was every- 
where in the thick of the fight. She complacently 
points to her early constitutional provision as the "ounce 
of prevention;" and to it, also, as a great turning-point 
in the history of man. 

Hardly less notable, also, was that other provision in 
that remarkable constitution, looking to the perfect free- 
ISO 



AN ADDHESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 



dom of conscience in religious matters, and demanding 
the complete separation of church and state, as the sur- 
est way to preserve the liberty of both. This is the 
more noticeable because it was a clean departure, made 
by New England men, from every custom and tradition 
of New England; in every colony of which the state seem- 
ed to be but the hand-maid of the church, which was ev- 
erywhere except in Rhode Island supported by a tax 
upon all the people according to the pleasure of the "ma- 
jority of the several towns, parishes, precincts and bod- 
ies politic." This, for instance, was the provision of the 
Massachusetts constitution of 1780. But the founders of 
this little state among the mountains, were reaching 
for the very highest notes in the anthem of liberty, and 
were not content with declaring the freedom of the body, 
alone; they said, man's spiritual nature and his con- 
science shall be free, also. They struck for indepen- 
dence — not alone from king-craft, but from priest-craft, 
as well; and, with the liberal hand, not of that day, but 
of the more tolerant times of which that act was the har- 
binger, wrote in their constitution, that: 

"No man ought to, or of right can be compelled to at 
tend any religious worship, or erect or support any 
place of worship, or maintain any minister contrary to 
the dictates of his conscience; nor can any man be justly 
deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen on ac- 
count of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of re- 
ligious worship; and that no authority can, or ought to 
be vested in, or assumed by any power whatever, that 
shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner con- 
trol the rights of conscience in free religious worship." 

This bold declaration in behalf of a free religion, 
supported by voluntary contribution and not upon com- 
pulsion by the state, could not have come from a want 

181 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

of respect for religious observances, for it closes in the 
following language: 

"Nevertheless every sect or denomination of Christ- 
ians ought to observe the Sabbath, or Lord's day, and 
keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them 
shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God." 

And the first legislature under this constitution, till 
special statutes could be adopted, declared the laws "as 
they stood in the Connecticut law book, and in defect of 
such laws the plain word of God as contained in the 
Scriptures," to be the law of the land. If further proof 
were wanting that this extreme declaration, for that day, 
of absolute freedom of religious belief, was not the work 
of irreverant men, you will find in the acts of the second 
legislature under that convention— which by express 
vote ratified the constitution— a provision that blas- 
phemy be punished with death, and that profane swear- 
ing and cursing, and drunkenness and lying, by fine and 
sitting in the stocks. 

But I must not dwell longer on these initial acts of 
Vermont's statehood, except to say that, on the day of 
the adoption of her constitution, July 8, 1777, at Windsor, 
and while it was being read paragraph by paragraph for 
the last time, a courier arrived in hot haste from the 
west side, with intelligence of the retreat from Ticon- 
deroga of the American troops before Burgoyne's army 
of Hessians and Indians, coming down from the north on 
both sides of the lake. Here was indeed an awful crisis; 
one beyond the control of constitutions or conventions, 
and for which the only cure was bayonets and bullets; 
which certain and effectual remedy every man in that 
convention felt that he knew how to administer; and 
some were for instant adjournment and immediate work 
on Burgoyne's flank. Williams, in his history, says, they 

182 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

would have adjourned only for a terrific thunder storm, 
which detained them in the building. But they did not 
adjourn; and there, amid the loud applause of the Heav- 
ens, these men completed their work; planting deep 
and broad the foundations of civil and religious liberty, 
and marking, as by a milestone, an era in constitutional 
government. They appointed a committee of safety, 
called on Massachusetts and New Hampshire for help, 
adjourned, and hastened over the mountains to pay their 
"respects" to General Burgoyne. The result is known to 
history in the battle of Bennington, which was the first 
streak of light in the continental struggle. 

The only thing I have time to say of that battle is, 
that the Vermonters were there, the same as at Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point, though the first military spirit 
of the new state— the renowned Ethan Allen— was not 
there. He was still confined in a British prison, where 
the blandishments of British gold and of high rank in the 
Royal army did not turn him from his allegiance to the 
mountains and the men of Vermont. Had he been pres- 
ent, there would surely have been some brave utterance 
suited to some brave act of his in witness of it. Really, 
Ethan Allen was the most picturesque figure in the Rev- 1 1 

olutionary war; and has always furnished a strong ap- 
peal to the imagination and sentiment of Vermont's 
youth. 

Stark of New Hampshire, Putnam of Connecticut, 
Lincoln of Massachusetts, Green of Rhode Island, Knox 
of Maine and Schuyler of New York, did more fighting 
than Allen, but not one of these has gone into history fill- 
ing so nearly the stature of the ideal hero, as this Ver- 
mont Colonel, whose brave act at Ticonderoga was made 
immortal, and principally by the striking formula of the 
authority on which he demanded its surrender. 

183 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GHROUT 

Doubtless had this affair been after Vermont had de- 
clared her independence, instead of two years before, Al- 
len would have given as the junior member of the firm 
he represented on that occasion, the independent State 
of Vermont, instead of the Continental Congress. 
Though perhaps not, for from the first it was the only 
ambition of the leaders of the new state to secure for her 
a place in the sisterhood of states, destined, as they be- 
lieved, to rule this continent. And the very first thing, 
they did after their declaration of independence was to 
despatch a committee to Congress with information of 
that fact, and that they proposed to regulate, for them- 
selves, their internal affairs in their own way, but always 
in a manner not repugnant to the resolves of Congress, 
and asked to be admitted to representation in that body. 
But New York objected, and so this rightful request wa*^ 
not granted. 

Vermont had been for twelve years in armed con- 
flict with New York, but there were still before her four- 
teen years more of fighting and waiting before her ad- 
mission as a state; and into that fourteen years, as in- 
deed throughout her whole career, was crowded a series 
of stirring events which make her history read like a 
border tale from the pen of fiction, instead of a plain 
statement of actual facts. 

From it you will learn how, in this conflict over jur- 
isdiction, the state was hardly any of the time free from 
disturbances and commotions in which, at times, the 
sheriff and his posse figured; and at others the militia, 
sometimes marshaled by the adherents of New York, 
but oftener under the authority of Vermont. Offending 
citizens were banished and their property confiscated; 
villages and buildings were frequently in a state of siege, 
so that physicians could visit their patients only upon a 

184 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

pass; and sometimes whole towns, by their corporate 
action, repudiated the authority of Vermont and de- 
clared for New York, as on one occasion was the case 
with the largest town in the state, having about three 
thousand population. But in this, as in all other like cases, 
Ethan Allen quickly revived their loyalty. He appeared 
before this rebellious town with a hundred men and is- 
sued this proclamation: 

"I, Ethan Allen, declare that unless the people of 

peacefully submit to the authority of Vermont, I 

will make this town as desolate as the Cities of Sodom 
and Gomorrah." 

You will also learn how, within one year from the 
adoption of her constitution, sixteen towns just over the 
Connecticut in New Hampshire, taking a fancy to the 
way Vermont conducted her affairs asked in a body, to 
be admitted as a part of the new state; which was re- 
fused, on learning from Ethan Allen— sent to consult 
Congress— that if it were not done, early admission as a 
state was Hkely to follow; but it did not follow; and, af- 
ter three years of congressional temporizing and delay, 
three years of vv^ar — and double war for Vermont, with 
Canada on the north and New York on the west — these 
same sixteen towns, with nineteen others — thirty-five in 
all — adopted in convention the constitution of Vermont 
and asked to be admitted as a part of the state. They 
were admitted, and on April 6, 1781, thirty-five represen- 
tatives of these New Hampshire towns took their seats in 
the Vermont legislature. Nor was this all; the people, 
in twelve election districts in New York, held a conven- 
tion, adopted the Vermont constitution and sent repre- 
sentatives, who were admitted to seats in the Vermont 
legislature. Thus, did the bold statesmanship and dar- 



185 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

ing exploits of these fearless men of the mountains at- 
tract. 

I have no time to tell how New Hampshire and New 
York were in arms for the reclamation of the seceded 
towns; nor how the Vermont militia rallied for their pro- 
tection; nor how in this alarming crisis Congress re- 
solved and General Washington wrote Governor Chit 
tenden that, if Vermont would but give up the new 
towns, her admission as a State would follow; and, how 
she did reUnquish her claim, insisting not upon empire, 
but asking only — according to promise — admission as a 
State; but how, instead of keeping this promise, a 
scheme was projected in Congress, by New York and 
New Hampshire, to divide the state on the Une of the 
mountains, between them; and how, at this point, Massa- 
chusetts gave notice of her claim to a portion of the ter- 
ritory, and how, for the settlement of the whole question, 
a committee was appointed by that body; nor how Ver- 
mont protested against the jurisdiction of that commit- 
tee, or of any tribunal whatever, to pass upon the ques- 
tion of her existence as an independent state; which, she 
reminded Congress by resolution of the legislature, was 
in her own keeping, and which she felt herself abundant- 
ly able to maintain. Nor can I more than allude to the 
efforts of British Generals in Canada, to induce Vermont 
to turn away from a faithless Congress, which they re- 
minded had left her to their tender mercies, and pro- 
posed to dismember and parcel her out, to states that 
should be formed, nor, how this proposition from the 
British Agents became so urgent as to assume the tan- 
gible form of an independent colonial government, with 
a Governor, council and legislature, much after the plan 
of her own constitution; and how Vermont, though she 



186 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

listened to these overtures— yet never wavered in her 
fidelity to the colonial cause. 

But I must give you the language of Ethan Allen in 
a letter to Congress, with which he sent two letters, 
which he had received from a British Agent assuring 
him and the people of Vermont the most favorable terms, 
would they but take a decided stand in behalf of Great 
Britain. This letter of Allen's was dated March 9, 1781, 
and among other things he said* 

"I am confident that Congress will not dispute my 
sincere attachment to the cause of my country, though I 
do not hesitate to say, I am fully grounded in opinion 
that Vermont has an indubitable right to agree on terms 
of a cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, provided 
the United States persist in rejecting her application for 
a union with them. For Vermont would be of all people 
most miserable were she obliged to defend the indepen- 
dence of the United States, and they be at the same time 
at full liberty to overturn and ruin the independence of 
Vermont. When Congress consider the circumstances 
of this state, they will, I am persuaded, be more sur- 
prised that I have transmitted them the enclosed letters 
than that I have kept them in custody so long; for I am 
as resolutely determined to defend the independence of 
Vermont as Congress is that of the United States, and 
rather than fail, I will retire with the hardy Green 
Mountain Boys into the desolate caverns of the mount- 
ains and wage war with human nature at large." 

This is strong language, and, though that of an in- 
dividual, only, it expressed the sentiments of the people 
for whom he spoke. These sentiments are forcibly set 
forth by the poet, in that spirited Vermont tribute— old 
but good — 



187 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

"Ho! all to the borders! Vermonters come down. 
With your breeches of deerskin and jackets of brown; 
With your red woolen caps and your moccasins, come 
To the gathering summons of trumpet and drum. 

"Come down with your rifles! Let gray wolf and fox 
Howl on in the shade of their primitive rocks: 
Let the bear feed securely from pigpen and stall; 
Here's two-legged game for your powder and ball." 

* * * * 

"Yet we owe no allegiance; we bow to no throne; 
Our ruler is law and the law is our own; 
Our leaders themselves are our own fellowmen. 
Who can handle the sword, or the scythe or the pen." 

* * * * 

"Come York or come Hampshire, come traitors and knaves. 

If ye rule o'er our land ye rule o'er our graves; 

Our vow is recorded, our banner unfurled. 

In the name of Vermont we defy all the world." 

This language exactly defines the attitude of Ver- 
mont at that time. She was in a desperate struggle for 
self-preservation against the greed of surrounding states 
and of British power; but she held out with unyielding 
spirit through all the weary years of war and civil tu- 
mult—laboring only for admission as a state, and at last 
succeeded; and for the first time in her history, sat down 
in peace. 

Such, in merest outline, is the early history of Ver- 
mont; and with such a history how can her people, 
whether living inside or outside the state, help the feel- 
ing that they have something in common; something up- 
on which to feed a proper state pride; something, in 
short, which must always furnish her sons lofty ideals in 
both peace and war. And, though no people were ever 
made great by mere worship of great ancestral deeds, 
yet such deeds are always a high incentive to patriotism 
and valor. 

188 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

With such a history, what wonder that the Vermont 
troops at Plattsburgh, in 1812, when ordered by procla- 
mation of a misguided Governor "back to their usual 
places of residence within the state," replied in sub- 
stance, that they should stay in the fight; and they did 
stay, to the lasting credit of the state. With such 
a history, is it matter of surprise that, in the late 
civil war the old Vermont Brigade, deployed as skir- 
mishers, could and did force back out of their way a Con- 
federate line of battle; and that the second brigade, at 
Gettysburg, amid a shower of shot and shell, swung out 
on Pickett's flank as if in battalion drill, delivering a 
deadly fire as they went and gathering in whole regi- 
ments and brigades with their colors and officers; thus 
turning the tide of the great pivotal battle of the war? 
And when hostilities closed and the question was asked, 
"what state troops had been most in the place of dan- 
ger?" is it any wonder that, with such a history, the fig- 
ures should award that great honor to little Vermont, 
whose per cent of killed in action was found to be larger 
than that of any other state? 

But, enough, I am not giving you Vermont history 
this evening, as such — for that you already know; but 
am only touching upon some of the striking passages in 
that history which, as a whole, I believe is largely the 
reason why Vermonters, wherever found, always stand by 
Vermont; not being ashamed to own that they are from 
the state of Allen and Stannard; of Foote and Colamer; 
of Edmunds and Morrill and Proctor. 

I would not, however, have you think that I think 
Vermont is the only state in the Union. She is really 
but a mere mite among the other states; and yet when 
we remember that "Men constitute a State," there is not 
one of them to which she has not contributed more than 

189 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

any dozen of them have contributed to her. By the cen- 
sus of 1880— the figures of 1890 are not yet ascertained — 
Vermont had 178,561 native-born citizens residing in 
other states; and there can be but little doubt that that 
number is now fully 200,000; while all the other states 
have, in Vermont, but 39,547. This great and powerful 
state of Illinois has in Vermont but 286 of her children, 
while Vermont has in Illinois 14,593 — sufficient leaven to 
make wholesome the whole lump. And when you re- 
member that every one of these Vermonters took with 
him to this state, his New England belief in those New 
England institutions-— the church, the school-house and 
the University — their influence upon the mental and mor- 
al character of the state surely cannot have been hurtful. 

I am not unmindful of the fact that there are great 
names in the northwest; but what greater ones in the 
courts, where all the rights of man and all the powers of 
government are at last analyzed and determined, than 
Corydon Beckwith and Matt Carpenter? And what 
greater one in statesmanship — Abraham Lincoln only ex- 
cepted — than Stephen A. Douglas? 

I must not, however, fail of some allusion to the 
great exhibition about to take place in this city, in which 
every civilized nation on the globe will have a part. In 
the first place, I want to say that, whatever diversity of 
opinion may have existed as to the best location, all will 
agree, when they come to see the immense buildings 
here erected, covering, as they do, 160 acres of ground, 
that nowhere short of a "prairie state" is there sufficient 
room for them. I want also to say that Vermont will be 
here with her productions, and thus pay still further trib- 
ute to Illinois. And, if your Judges should not give us a 
"prize," we shall, at least, expect a "medal" duly in- 
scribed with the following lines from one of our poets: 

190 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE SONS OF VERMONT BANQUET 

"Vermont: Her principal products — men and women, 
maple sugar and horses. 

The first are strong, the last are fleet, 
The second and third exceedingly sweet. 
And all are uncommonly hard to beat. 

Yes, Vermont will be here with her products. The 
management of the Fair has kindly provided for a spe- 
cial exhibit of Morgan horses; and we shall have a col- 
lection of them here, to let the world see the horses — for 
a pair of which Napoleon III sent all the way to Vermont, 
while at the height of his power, as being the only horses 
good enough to draw him. 

We shall show you real maple honey, made from the 
pure juice of the maple before it has been defiled in the 
glucose houses of this city. We shall also show you but- 
ter, which derives its flavor from the proper qualities of 
cream, and not by baptism in stale buttermilk in the oleo 
mills of this city. Vermont will also show you her scales 
from two great houses, in the manufacture of which she 
leads the world, and by which the world— civilized and 
uncivilized— buys and sells, today; for Stanley tells of 
finding "Fairbanks' Standard on the upper Congo, in the 
heart of darkest Africa. She will also show you the 
world renowned Estey organ, which has brought Ver- 
mont to a "Uniform Pitch," "*" * at least on the 
question of Governor * * and which will make 
happy all who have music in their souls. She will also 
show you her marble, of which she is the greatest pro- 
ducing state. And over all these products will be placed 
a plain sign saying, "You can have the genuine by or- 
dering direct from Vermont * * except the 
men and women, who come and go only on their own 
order." 

And now just a closing word to the absent sons and 

191 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WALLACE GROUT 

daughters of Vermont, for whom, wherever dispersed 
over the face of the earth, the state still feels a mother's 
affection, and in their success, a mother's pride. She 
does not reproach you for your absence, but wonders 
whether there are not times, when distracted by the 

"Rushing wheels of trade's tumultuous jar" — 

and, tired of the artificial life of a great city, you do not 
wish yourselves back among the hills and streams and in 
the pure air of your native state. Vermont, like a 
mother at the door, stands ready to welcome you * 
not to a pauper state of abandoned farms, but to one 
whose per cent of increased property valuation for the 
last decade was twice as large as was the average in- 
crease throughout the United States. The old Home- 
stead, sacred through the memories of childhood, per- 
chance planted in the days of Allen and Warner, in your 
name, awaits your coming, and will give you something 
still to do. 

Were all the wanderers to return, and at once, who 
would describe the feast? and when the "Inevitable hour" 
shall come, what better than to lie down with kindred 
and friends beneath the bright sky, and beside the clear 
waters of the dear old Green Mountain State— -really 
much nearer heaven than in most other places — so that 
living or dead, you shall have the best? 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: thanking you 
for your attention, let me close with this sentiment: 

Vermont forever — the star that never sets. 



192 



P: 




JOSIAH GROUT 

Born 1841 

Major in the Civil War 

Governor 1896-1898 

l. l. d. university of vermont 

l. l. d. norwich university 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

of 

JOSIAH GROUT 



JOSIAH GROUT 

FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



The year was 1848, the month was January, the day 
was the second, that father, with Helen, George, myself 
and Sophronia started for our Vermont home. We were 
tucked away, with a few household goods in a new two 
horse pung sleigh, with a foot board at the rear end for 
the driver. Upon this father stood much of the way, 
driving the horses that drew the load. It was a cold day 
and the sleigh runners sounded the music of goodbye, 
which has not yet entirely died away. This change, be- 
set by memories of our cradle home, can be effaced only 
by the last great change. The journey was uneventful. 
At the end of the second day, by candle light, we reached 
our destination; and after eighteen years abroad father 
returned to the place of his birth, where he passed the 
remainder of his days. 

I was seven years old, had been in school the preced- 
ing three years; and was quite a chumpy boy; with some- 
what minimized notions as to the size and strength of 
other boys. The near by villages and neighborhood fur- 
nished quite a number of specimens, most of whom were 
older, larger and stronger. It was some time before I 
had them all sampled; and knew whom to pitch into and 
whom to let alone, for it always left a better feeling, to 
be standing when the sampling was over. 

I was in school summer and winter until ten, and af- 

195 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ter this age only winters. Had the advantage of two se- 
lect village schools, when at the age of 16 I taught a 25 
scholar winter school, receiving ten dollars a month. 
Again at 17 I taught a larger school, the same at 18; and 
at 20 was offered the village school at St. Johnsbury East, 
but enlisted instead. I was at the Orleans Liberal Insti- 
tute, Glover three terms and the St. Johnsbury Academy 
a part of one term. Was in this school at the time of en- 
listment; and you should have heard the beautiful little 
talk Professor Colby gave the school in announcing the 
event. Have always felt well paid for the venture by the 
nice way the kind man spoke. 

The farm was substantially the in and out of life 
from seven to twenty. Going to school and teaching 
were incidents. After seventeen I gave a full man's 
work and none of the half dozen, in the large hay field, 
with scythe, rake or fork did more. The mowing ma- 
chine and horse rake came to the rescue of the hay mak- 
er about the time the soldier went to the rescue of the 
Country. 

In the common school, the Academy and all educa- 
tional work; the lyceum and its exercises were the most 
helpful, in acquiring that which entered my life, as a di- 
recting factor of intellectual endeavor. 

This and other similar educational adjuncts 
has given way to games and sports in the 
higher schools and colleges; and there is already 
a plain difference between the graduates of the 
institutions now and sixty years ago. Then they 
graduated, now they are graduated. Another generation 
will change this or it will see a surrender of the schools, 
the higher and lower, to the sports and games of life. Is 
it not time to exclaim when the papers of the Country 
give daily to sports and games pages, and to schools and 

196 



FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



colleges nothing? And also when officials of the ball 
game receive greater pay than the President of the Unit- 
ed States once received; and for aught I know as much 
as he receives now? 

The schools of the country, from grade to college, 
are so organized, equipped and managed, that the Test 
of the course is found in games, sports and plays, while 
the regular class and study work is the drudgery; and in 
too many instances altogether secondary. 

The test of the student must be work and study or 
he will be just simply a good fellow, in for a good time; 
and beware of a good time all the time. 

Teach in home and school for a more beneficial ul- 
timatum or the boys and girls will be failures. 

The boy who knows how to work, is willing to work 
and is looking for work, is the success. This boy gener- 
ally comes from the country with few advantages, goes 
to the city, makes his mark, and gets there. 

His children, city born, grow up with the advan- 
tages of city life and wealth; and behold other country 
boys come to the city, run all around them, and also get 
there while they become the "flotsam and jetsam" of the 
city voyage. 

The one is born of work, knows how to work, is will- 
ing to work and is looking for work. The other is born 
in luxury, knows little else but play, is not willing to do 
anything else and is looking for nothing else. Take 
your choice, but, my friends, again I say, beware of a 
good time all the time. 

Life at its best, manhood at its best, the anticipatory 
of the true aims and purposes of human existence, are 
founded upon a firmer rock than a good time. 

Having outlined the substantial features of life from 
seven to twenty; the time of my enlistment, and reflect- 

197 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ed a shadow of the lapse between now and then, will 
give a little filling for those lighter years. Corporal pun- 
ishment, almost entirely obsoleted, was then much used. 
Sometimes discreetly, and sometimes indiscreetly. The 
old idea of spare the rod and spoil the child had its justi- 
fication. With large families in crowded quarters, and 
the parents always having work to do, a coaxed obe- 
dience was out of the question; and always tardy, came 
too late, either to help parent or benefit child and had no 
practical value. A prompt obedience made better chil- 
dren and cleared the way for better men and women. 
Obedience is the great desideratum of life, high or low. 
It is the greatest requirement of law, the greatest need 
of government. With it you have order, thrift, happi- 
ness and the best. Without it you have lawlessness, 
shiftlessness, miserableness and the worst. 

The discipline of the family becomes the discipline 
of the nation. When the family talks back, slams the 
doors, goes hunting and fishing when it pleases, goes to 
the village returning any old time, attends dances and 
parties; the people of the nation talk back, slam the 
doors, come and go as they please and have dances and 
parties more dangerous than the children. 

There was a better discipline than there is. The rod 
in the home supplemented by the rod in the school gave 
that discipHne. That discipline gave a better, in home, 
in state and in nation. Obedience, the unavoidable re- 
sult of discipline, was the stability of society. Obedience 
of law, the higher as well, gets in harmony with God 
and keeps in harmony with the world. 

There was a small rod with a small end in the Grout 
home; and in the schools the Grout children attended. 
It was impartially used; and all the children soon came to 
know its imperativeness. It saved time, commanded 

198 



FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



respect, created love, the love with a meaning; and es- 
tablished good behavior. A behavior that conserves life 
and character. 

Dancing and card playing, in my boyhood time, were 
evening exercises; and mother made a rule, as inflexible 
as the laws of the Medes and Persians, that her children 
could not engage in them. She said that in choosing 
what to do always select the useful; and being out nights 
interfered with the day school; and that the day school 
was more important than the dancing school. 

Winter evening reading was practised in our home; 
in fact required; and the winter Uncle Tom's Cabin and 
the life of Daniel Webster were read in our family a great 
impression was created. During such reading by father 
or one of the older ones, mother always at her mending; 
all sat up and gave attention. 

In the Centennial Exercises of this book you read 
about Grandmother Grout's battle royal with the rats in 
the pine board buttery; and now I will tell you that our 
mother had a battle, somewhat less royal, with her fam- 
ily rats in the same ancient structure. Her custom was, 
each year in early winter about butchering time, to make 
up a considerable number of mince pies, sausages and 
the like, and freeze them in this back buttery. One win- 
ter she missed some of her pies but soon located the 
thieves; and our mince pie lunches were discontinued 
and a lesson pointed by the small end of the family rod. 

When about seven, before the days of prohibition, 
father furnished grog, as was customary, for the hay 
field help; and for that purpose kept a small bottle in one 
of the field springs. My older brothers thought to try 
my capacity for the touch-not stuff; and gave me enough 
so that on my way home I stepped unusually high and in 
attempting to cross a small brook by crawling over on a 

199 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



pump log, rolled off and, finding more water than was ex- 
pected, created something of a rescue sensation, in which 
mother took part and also took her stupid, wet boy to the 
house for safety and repose. In this case too the small 
end of the family rod taught the older a better regard 
for the younger. 

When about ten, I attempted smoking tobacco and 
became sick. O my! but I was sick, and don't you for- 
get it. I have not forgotten it; and have never touched 
the weed since. 

At the age of eighteen I was away from home four 
months in Kentucky and Wisconsin trying my hand as 
a book agent. Not proving satisfactory, this business 
was exchanged for the work of safe guarding a large 
mill property in the pine regions of Wisconsin. The 
mill was thirty miles above Stevens Point, the nearest 
village, which was nearly two hundred miles from the 
nearest railroad. Lumber mills those days were found 
every few miles up the Wisconsin River from its conflu- 
ence with the Mississippi, as far as rafting sawn lumber 
to market could be done. The mills were run only win- 
ters and watched against depredations summers. The 
nearest mill down the river from my charge was six 
miles and the nearest up the river was ten miles. These 
mills were guarded by Sweede families. 

The mill property of which I had charge consisted 
of a large saw mill, several boarding and lodging houses; 
storage sheds and an office and store building. Besides 
the paraphernalia of a lumber camp placed in the sheds 
and other buildings, there was property in the shape of 
supplies and the like, in the store building of consider- 
able value. Indians in pairs or in larger numbers ap- 
peared quite often, always wanting something to eat. 

At this station I remained nearly two months, my 

200 



FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



callers the Indians, my companions the birds, an occa- 
sional deer, now and then a fox, the ever present river 
rat and two large, beautiful cats; and what company the 
cats were! I was my own housekeeper. I subsisted up- 
on fish caught from the river, salt meats, very good 
cakes made from flour and corn meal; and dried apple 
sauce, no butter or milk. While there I read the Green 
Mountain Boys, Ethan Allen's little book on his life as a 
prisoner of war; and a book on the Revolutionary War. 

My brother-in-law from Stevens Point was up and 
down the river occasionally in a small steam boat. 
When he did not call to leave a bite good to eat, in re- 
sponse to the whistle of his boat, I gave the understood 
signal, that all was well. This brother-in-law was the 
husband of my oldest sister who had deceased a short 
time before. 

This resort was not a "lodge in some vast wilder- 
ness" yet it was some wilderness; but it was a lonesome 
stay. The nights were short and bridged by sleep; but 
the days were long and wore wearily away. I fully real 
ized it was not home. The love of home sharpened with 
the coming and going of the weeks. I would have given 
my kingdom, not for a horse, but for an hour in the fam- 
ily circle. The Indians got on my nerve a trifle, to say 
nothing of feeding them. A letter home telling where I 
was and what I was doing brought a bank draft and or- 
ders to get out and get home. While I did not alto- 
gether need the former I did need the latter; and, ar- 
ranging for a successor, I soon bade the Warren Mills on 
the old Wisconsin River goodbye forever, reaching home 
to help do the haying in the season of 1859. 

In Kentucky I saw much of life in both mountain 
and blue grass regions. Saw much of Master and Slave; 
and the relations of one to the other. Saw at what a dis- 

201 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



advantage work of all kinds was done under the slave 
system. How it prevented the best among the best 
whites and made all the worse life among the poor 
whites. How it smothered education and begat igno- 
rance. How it held in darkness and shame the elevating 
aims and purposes of the upward and onward. What a 
nightmare of restraint slavery was upon the pure and the 
nobler in struggling for a better. 

This trip South and West taught more lessons than 
a similar trip would now; and was worth all it cost. It 
exposed the telling difference between free and trammel- 
ed labor, between intelligent and unintelligent effort, be- 
tween labor bestowed for the laborer and for another 
without reward. It disclosed the reactionary of freedom 
and slavery; and pointed out the highway of emigration. 
It told how the wild prairie was being transformed into 
farms, the cabins and dugouts into homes. How the 
railroads were extending into new sections and bringing 
the old and the new nearer together. It pointed out the 
wonderful opportunity for life in the West and empha- 
sized the comforts and enjoyments of life in the East. It 
told and is still telling the wonderful story of the great- 
est civilizing agency of the modern world, the railroad. 
Wherever it has gone, hardships have changed to com- 
forts, hard times to better times; and the schools, the 
church and all the better agencies of life, have come in 
to help on the affairs of the world. 

In the late fifties Governor Erastus Fairbanks gave 
occasional lectures at St. Johnsbury to the young; and 
father or mother and Brother William frequently drove 
down to hear him. Governor Fairbanks was patriarchal 
in appearance and what he said was well weighted with 
wisdom. 

In those days occasionally Henry Ward Beecher, 

202 



FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



Wendell Phillips, E. H. Chapin and men of that class lec- 
tured at St. Johnsbury; and when they did some of the 
older of the family heard them. 

At this time father took the Boston Weekly Travel- 
ler which had the sermons of Theodore Parker, which 
were read aloud to the whole family. These sermons in 
tone and character were marvels, placing the fundament- 
als of life upon the Everlasting Rock. 

Some of the family attended church every Sunday. 
In good weather all who were able did so. Some walk- 
ing the distance of two and one-half miles and some rid- 
ing. Occasionally the double team was hitched when all 
rode. The double conveyance was a lumber wagon or 
pung sleigh. These were rude and plain. They were 
used in and about the farm work. The older ones, es- 
pecially Brother William, demurred at such means of 
travel to the house of worship; and one Sunday in pass- 
ing a neighbor's flock of hens they set up a merry cackle; 
and he remarked they were laughing at our turn-out. 
This provocation, added to others, led father to tell us 
that for the next six months we would all go to church, 
when able, every Sunday, the weather suitable, on foot; 
and that for the next two years, none of us would attend 
either cattle fair, caravan or circus, but stay at home and 
work those days. Mother approved the edict, and so it 
went upon the family records, a law that changed not. 

I have thus related some of our family incidents that 
may be interesting. I have presented these, because I 
wanted it to appear, from what kind of family life I 
emerged at the age of about twenty, into a life of think- 
ing, acting and doing for myself. I am not dwelling up- 
on my upbringing to show superiority of either home or 
individual characteristics. I would, however, have the 
difference between families and the home training of 

203 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



children, when I was a child and now, noticed and con- 
sidered. Then children were much more submissive and 
obedient to parental authority than now. There was 
then much more parental authority than now. The par- 
ents in a quiet, even handed way secured obedience pain 
fully absent in families today. Then the parents were 
entirely devoted to their children, now there is a divided 
devotion. Then children had the first and only claim up- 
on parents, now society divides that claim, in some in- 
stances taking the larger part. 

It is, however, more important still, that then chil- 
dren were made to work, yes, were made to work, were 
brought up to work; and it was the pride of both parent 
and child that the children knew how to work. Knew 
how to do all kinds of common work; and such children, 
knowing how to do one thing, would soon, oh! so soon, 
do other things. Knowing how to do the plain they 
could, most surprisingly soon, do the difficult. The work 
idea was inculcated much more generally, because I sup- 
pose all were poorer than now. There was less of lux- 
ury, extravagance and waste; all then was economy, had 
to be. 

Bear in mind the world, in all its needs, in all its re- 
quirements, is looking for the boy who knows how to 
work and how to do things. Such a boy is the winner, 
he becomes the man who achieves, takes the belt and 
carries away the cup. Work loved and applied is the in- 
dividual's greatest blessing, the world's greatest asset. 

For the loving, watchful way, along which I was led 
from a child to a young man, I wish here to acknowledge 
my deepest gratitude, offer my best thanks. In that pa- 
tient leading my mother was ever present, ever constant, 
ever insistent. The best of thought and action was none 
too good for her children. Something to do of the best 

204 



FROM SEVEN TO THE CIVIL WAR 



kind, of the right kind; and to do it without tiring, was 
her conception of the true way up the incline of life; and 
how many times she said, "If your father and I cannot 
keep you at work the devil will be giving you something 
to do." 

When the home clock told my time; and I crossed the 
threshold of the future, I knew how to work, was willing 
to work, and knew how to do some things. Thanks to 
my bringing up. 

The home, the family and Society were more sub- 
stantial than they are today. There was less money, but 
debts were as closely paid. There was more hardship, 
but there was a better enjoyment. Hardship and depri- 
vation season life with economy, pave its ways with 
soundness, ever leading financial endeavors upward. I 
would have the young realize the advantages of knowing 
work in all its phases; and in all its bearings upon life 
and character. Despise it not; and may coming genera- 
tions rise to the dignity of a knowledge of its true value. 

It was the mother's hand that rocked the cradle. It 
is the nurse's hand that rocks the cradle. Which hand 
will rock the world? 

I may be cranky but the proud opulence of today ad- 
monishes that a fall may follow. Money to burn is our 
present danger. The ease of the present is our greatest 
menace. Unless the grasp of economy soon gathers in 
the wild waste of our present sports and fast living, the 
world will soon be longing for the good old times of large 
families and a mother's hand to rock the cradle. 

The first money I earned was driving a yoke of oxen 
to a breaking up plow at five cents a day. This service 
lasted two days; and the ten cents received secured more 
satisfying enjoyments of life than ten dollars buys now a 
days. 

Then there was none of that toppling pride occasion- 
ed by money; now money is the controlling influence. 

205 



THE CIVIL WAR 

In 1860, the clouds of war appeared in the National 
sky. These clouds had been appearing and disappearing 
for years. They were the by-product of a discussion of 
the right and wrong of Slavery. They were the inevit- 
able of an unavoidable in the constitutional frame up of 
our government. 

Of the original thirteen states seven were free and 
SIX were slave. Of the thirty odd states, constituting the 
Union in 1860, fourteen were slave. When the Union 
was formed Slavery was already a live wire; and from 
time to time the admission of new states made the wire 
all the more lively. 

The free states were commercial and agricultural. 
The slave states were agricultural. The cash products 
of the South were agricultural. The cash products of the 
North were agricultural and manufactures. 

In the growth of the States, these divergent condi- 
tions, occasioned an ever increasing friction; and natu- 
rally wrought disadvantage to the slave states and favor 
to the free states. Commerce became the leading fea- 
ture of Northern business, centering wealth in the free 
states. This begat jealousy and hatred. This inequal- 
ity was the natural result of the difference between free 
and slave labor. It was the retributive echo of the crack 
of the master lash. 

To regulate this increasing difference the South in- 
sisted upon more slave territory. To cure this drunken- 
ness they wanted another drink. The North considered 
Slavery wrong; a contradiction of the Declaration of In- 

206 



THE CIVIL WAR 



dependence; a serious infliction upon our body politic, up- 
on civilized society; and a menace to the fellowship of 
the States. This unreconciled feeling entered politics 
and became the attrition of party organization and action. 

In about 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy, a native of the State 
of Maine, the son of a minister, himself a minister, loca- 
ted in St. Louis, Missouri; and became the editor of a pa- 
per, which condemned, in strong terms, Slavery in all its 
aspects. He was admonished by the Missourians, and to 
escape mob violence, moved to Alton, Illinois, just across 
the Mississippi from St. Louis, where he continued his pa- 
per upon the same high ground and in the same fearless 
way. 

The Missourians formed a mob, crossed the river, 
burned his office, threw his printing press into the Miss- 
issippi and murdered him. For the doing of all which no 
one was punished. 

His brother, Owen, also a minister, was present- 
The mob also sought his life, but he so fearlessly defend- 
ed himself, and so bravely defied the rascally villains, 
that he escaped, soon after locating in Princeton, IlHnois; 
where for many years, in a prominent Congregational 
Church and in many other places of the state he preach- 
ed his convictions, as to slavery and all kindred subjects. 
He frequently held public meetings in the prominent cit- 
ies of the state, in which he most scathingly discussed 
the subject. By the early laws of Illinois such meetings 
were finable offences; and he was often arrested, tried 
and fined; but in each case he so eloquently defended 
himself, so fearlessly defied the enforcement of such a 
law; and made such attractive demonstrations of his de- 
fences, that soon all efforts, to convict, resulted in acquit- 
tals, he became immensely popular and the obnoxious 
law was repealed. 

207 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



In 1854, the Princeton district sent him to Congress, 
where until his death in 1864, in the midst of the Civil 
War, he dealt the Slave power many most telling blows. 

The Lovejoys, like many others from Maine, were 
large, fine appearing men, learned, noble, true and fear- 
less. Avowedly Owen lived to avenge the wicked death 
of his brother, who was a brave young man of fine edu- 
cation and great promise. 

It was my privilege to hear Owen Lovejoy address a 
mass meeting at Galesburg, Illinois, not long before his 
death, upon the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, the con- 
dition of the Country, the duty of the Nation and the is- 
sues of the war. It was a thrilling speech, replete with 
arraignment, argument, eloquence and prophecy. I 
never heard a speech, in impressiveness and effect, the 
equal of this his last. 

Presidents were elected upon the issues of Slavery. 
The intenseness of this great question grew apace. 

The Mexican War was precipitated in President 
Polk's time, 1845, to make good the acquisition of Texas, 
as a slave state, which had previously been wrested from 
Mexico by Sam Houston, a pro slavery revolutionist. 
When California, a part of the Mexican War acquisition, 
was admitted in 1850, a desperate effort was made to 
have it a slave state. When Kansas asked for admission 
the insulation of the wire had become entirely abraided. 
The current was strong, fitful and dangerous. Infant 
Kansas sweat blood at every pore and was the storm cen- 
ter that finally became the cyclone of war. 

To fully realize the political desperation preceding 
the Civil War; and the tragic part Kansas played in be- 
coming a state, it may be interesting to present a few of 
the many almost unbelievable acts and facts of that 
stormy period. 

208 



THE CIVIL WAR 



Kansas came to the United States by way of the Lou- 
isiana Purchase in 1803. In 1820, Missouri, a part of this 
purchase, was taken into the Union, as a slave state, af- 
ter great opposition; and by reason of a compact, to the 
effect that no more territory, arising from the Louisiana 
Purchase, should ever become slave states. Notwith- 
standing this, in 1854, Kansas was made into a territory 
by an act of Congress declaring the Missouri compact 
null and void. This flagrant violation of this important 
compromise aroused the Country as no other act rela- 
ting to Slavery had done; and all political forces opposed 
to Slavery arrayed themselves, openly, fearlessly and in- 
sistently against the political forces persistent upon more 
slavery. Thus arrayed, the giants and pygmies fre- 
quently met, in heated combat, campaign and congress- 
ional. 

After the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, soci- 
eties from the free states became active in aiding emi- 
gration to the territory of Kansas; and also societies 
from the Slave States aided in the same work. Emigra- 
tion from the North by far exceeded that from the South. 
Soon an official outfit for the territory emanated from 
Washington. An election of a delegate to Congress, a 
territorial legislature, and an organization of the terri- 
tory followed. 

These steps were taken during the closing days of 
President Pierce's administration. The official establish- 
ment sent from Washington was pro slavery; yet so pal- 
pable were the frauds practiced in the election, that the 
governor of the territory ordered special elections in sev- 
eral precincts. These precincts returned anti slavery 
legislators. 

Another election was held in March, 1855, to choose 
another legislature, in which pro slavery members were 

209 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



returned from every precinct. In this scandalous elec- 
tion as in the former armed bodies of men from Missou- 
ri and other slave states entered the territory appearing, 
at all the polling places, with guns, knives and other in- 
struments of death, terrorizing the voters and doing 
much of the voting themselves. At many of the polling 
places fights occurred between the legal voters and these 
ruffians. 

It was estimated in these elections that several thou- 
sand were killed. 

These armed intruders, after election, speedily re- 
turned to Missouri from whence they came. 

This last legislature soon met and enacted it to be a 
capital offense to assist slaves in escaping from their 
masters. It also enacted a five years' imprisonment for 
anyone to abet a slave in any way in escaping; or in any 
way denying the right to anyone to hold slaves in the ter- 
ritory. It also enacted that all inhabitants of the terri- 
tory must register an oath to uphold the fugitive slave 
law. In this election 8000 votes were cast, one thousand 
only being legal; and over 800 of the 1000 were opposed 
to slavery. 

In the course of the years between 1855 and 1860. 
five different governors were sent from Washington, rap- 
idly succeeding each other, because of demurring to the 
unreasonable exactions of the slave power. Several dif- 
ferent elections were held, different constitutional con- 
ventions adopted opposing constitutions as to slavery; 
and bodies of armed men domineered all these doings. 
President Buchanan during his entire administration up- 
held by an armed force the course of his predecessor. 
Meantime the territory presented Congress with the Le- 
compton and Topeka constitutions. One with and the 
other without slavery. Kansas did not, however, be- 

210 



THE CIVIL WAR 



come a state until President Lincoln's time in 1861. The 
half is not here told of the atrocities committed during 
the years Kansas was fitting for the Union. 

The Dred Scott case decided by the Supreme Court 
in 1856, established a rule under which the black man 
had no rights the white man was bound to respect; and 
disclosed a pro slavery leaning of the Court; as was 
stoutly claimed. 

Following the fateful repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise, the Anti Slavery agitators became noisy and fear- 
less. 

Garrison with the Liberator, Phillips with a wonder- 
ful power of speech, Beecher with a tremendous denun- 
ciation and many others of like character sounded the 
bell of liberty louder than it had ever rung before. 

The most interesting character of the bleeding Kan. 
sas time was John Brown, who went there in 1854; and 
was prominent and active in the conflicts between the 
free settlers and the pro slavery Missourians. In one of 
these conflicts one of his sons was killed. 

In 1859, after he considered the disturbing question 
of that territory settled he turned eastward; and made a 
hostile descent upon Harpers Ferry, Virginia, where with 
seventeen men, he seized the arsenal buildings, contain- 
ing 100,000 arms; and defended himself from the engine 
house of those works, against the Maryland Militia and 
Robert E. Lee of the regular army, with a thousand men, 
while the sun went grimly smiling around the globe 
twice; and when he surrendered he held in his arms a 
dying son, by his side lay another dead, and in the soil of 
Kansas rested another. He was hung at Charlestown, 
Virginia, soon after, because of his indiscreet love for 
freedom. He and his sons offered themselves, a sacri. 
fice, upon the altar of freedom. Nothing more, nothing 

211 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



less. He met his fate calmly, with a smile, telling his ex- 
ecutioners that he rejoiced in all his sacrifices, that he 
and his sons died to avenge the wrong of Slavery; and 
he also told them, with prophetic calmness, that a 
mighty retribution was at hand; and would speedily be- 
fall the slave power and the slave states; that their own 
madness would consume them. 

Thus you behold a hero with conviction and courage 
to match. Unselfishly for the right; regardless of conse- 
quences. He stands in history the peer of the noblest; 
for a cause of undoubted justice; and a proud example 
of daring to do. 

I would rather be responsible, in this or any other 
world, for John Brown's raid than Jefferson Davis' rebel- 
lion. He was an outlaw, yet what were the gangs he 
had met in Kansas, as well the whole Confederate Army, 
but outlaws. They were outlaws to compel the wrong, 
a great wrong. He was an outlaw to compel just simply 
the right. 

His body moulders in the ground but "his soul goes 
marching on;" while Jeff Davis and all his gangs are hang- 
ing to sour apple trees. 

The welkin of many a Southern sky, during the Civ- 
il War, rang with the refrain of many a camp fire, 
around which, in song, John Brown's soul went marching 
on. 

History has its martyrs who have died at the stake, 
on the gallows, in the dungeon and on the rack, for one 
outlawry or another, in the interest of humanity, to in- 
augurate a better freedom for both body and conscience, 
but it has no instance of greater self-denial, greater bra- 
very, greater sacrifice and a nobler purpose than John 
Brown's life furnishes. He was a fanatic, so are all mar- 
tyrs; he was ahead of the procession, so are all martyrs; 

212 



THE CIVIL WAR 



he was hissed by the easy going, proud world, so are all 
martyrs; but remember, my friends, "his soul is march- 
ing on." 

I am prouder of the humble part I took, in assisting 
to fulfil the lofty purpose of his martyrdom, than of any 
other part of my life. 

In the heat of the discussion of the Missouri Compro- 
mise repeal, Charles Sumner, a young, prepossessing sen- 
ator from Massachusetts, delivered in the Senate a well 
prepared, forceful speech, in which he arraigned the 
slave power. This speech made clear the course pur- 
sued in Kansas which Mr. Sumner said was a "crime." 
Things were called by their right names and with re- 
markable clearness and directness he lined, scored and 
hewed, regardless of where the chips fiew. The speech 
commanded great attention in the delivery, attracted 
great attention throughout the country and was very of- 
fensive to the slave oligarchs everywhere. The South- 
ern Senators who listened to the measured sentences con- 
taining stinging rebukes of the outrageous doings in Kan- 
sas, became greatly incensed. This speech occupied two 
days in the delivery; and when concluded Mr. Sumner, 
seated at his desk in the Senate Chamber doing some 
writing, was approached from the rear by one Preston S. 
Brooks, a representative from South Carolina, who as- 
saulted him with a heavy cane selected for the purpose 
upon the back of the head. The blows occasioned cruel 
wounds, and for a long 'time the senator's life was des- 
paired of. For this wanton assault Brooks was congrat- 
ulated by Southern senators and members while it great- 
ly embittered the excitement at the North. 

Soon after this Brooks died of croup; and at the 
church service I attended the Sunday following his death 
the minister's prayer did not thank God that Brooks was 

213 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



dead; but if in God's providence Brooks was to die it 
thanked God that he died of croup. In the Congress 
spite and hate changed places with dignity and courtesy 
and frequent fistings and scuffles occurred in both bod- 
ies. The Douglas-Lincoln debates, in Illinois in 1858, de- 
fined the issues of the approaching conflagration - These 
debates allowed Douglas to succeed himself as Senator 
from Illinois; but they made Lincoln the next President 
of the United States. There was a molten fusing the 
country over of anti-slavery forces against pro-slavery 
forces, in the election of 1860. The mutterings of the 
Pierce and Buchanan campaigns became unmistakable 
voices of dare and threat. Notwithstanding all the por- 
tendings, the*North calmly accepted the challenge and 
elected Abraham Lincoln President. Immediately South 
Carolina seceded, and nine other states soon followed. 
As the last Senator of the ten seceding states retired 
from the Senate Chamber, in a prepared speech he com- 
pared the secession hegira to the departure of the "Ten 
Tribes;" whereupon Senator Hale from New Hampshire 
replied that the "Ten Tribes'' did go out from Israel but 
the "Ark of God" remained; and the tribes were forever 
lost. 

A Peace Congress was called to meet in Washington 
in February following this election to see if the differ- 
ences could be arranged. This congress composed of 
delegates from twenty-six different States of the Union 
was presided over by Ex-President Tyler. While in ses- 
sion a procession of civilians and militia, carrying many 
flags, paraded the streets of Washington and waited up- 
on this Congress. Against this the President of the 
Peace Congress protested to President Buchanan, who re- 
plied that he was unable to prevent the procession and 



214 



THE CWIL WAR 



demonstration. Whereupon the Peace Congress dis- 
solved and went home. 

Soon after his election Mr. Lincoln made a tour of 
certain states, going as far South as was considered safe, 
in which he endeavored by repeated speeches and assur- 
ances to have it known that his administration would 
not in any way interfere with Slavery as it then existed. 
He took special pains to impress this assurance upon the 
seceders; but it was all of no avail. Secession went stub- 
bornly and rapidly on. State after state went out. Del- 
egation after delegation in Congress withdrew. 

On the 4th of March, inauguration day, a Southern 
Confederacy had been organized; and Confederate sol- 
diers overlooked the capitol from Virginia heights across 
the Potomac. President Lincoln's inaugural address was 
eloquent with appeal, entreaty and assurance. All of 
which the Southern leaders characterized as Northern 
cowardice congratulating themselves that there would 
be no opposition to the permanent establishment of the 
Confederacy; feeling safe in the estimate, much in vogue 
throughout the South, that one Southerner, in case of 
war, would prove equal to three Northerners. The 
South considered Northern patriotism commercialized, 
sordid and greedy. They called us "mud sills" and 
accused us of thinking more of a dollar than of the flag. 
They esteemed themselves chivalrous, vaUant and brave 

These and similar views were held by the South, not 
without reason. The commerce of the North led to ac- 
cumulations, the result of peace; rather than waste, the 
result of war; and too, there was a decided division of 
sentiment at the North, as to a compulsory union of 
the States. New York City, with much of its trade at 
the South, was a hot bed of peace discussion. The New 
York Tribune with Horace Greeley at the helm advised 

215 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



allowing the seceding states to go out of the Union peace- 
ably. The Democratic Party divided, being known as 
Democrats and "War Democrats;" and there were pacif- 
ists everywhere who were called dough faces. There 
were in those times then, Southern fire eaters, Northern 
dough faces, Northern mud sills; and other nicknamed 
subdivisions of the good people North and South; bark- 
ing, snapping, snarling, blustering and dodging into and 
out of their holes, like so many coyotes. 

Abraham Lincoln, soon after his election, gave out 
an ultimatum covering the positions of the whole stormy 
matter, making it all plain, very plain and simple, as to 
what ought to be done, as to what would be done, as to 
what must be done, and as to what was done. 

He said he had a sacred oath registered in Heaven to 
defend the Constitution and enforce the laws; and that 
he should faithfully keep that oath. That he would not 
in any way interfere with the institutions of any state; 
and that he would see to it that each and every state con- 
tinued to enjoy all rights in the future it had enjoyed in 
the past. He further said he should make no move upon 
any state except to carry out the provisions of the oath 
he had taken; and that to have any quarrel with the 
United States, the destroyers of the Union must them- 
selves be the aggressors. 

This ultimatum, so temperate, so calm, so complete, 
soon became an embodiment of National action. The 
North gradually settled down and lifted itself up to this 
wise level. It soon concluded to follow the incoming 
President in his views of both duty and expediency. It 
assisted the President Elect in keeping the oath of his 
great office. It patiently awaited the aggression of the 
seceders. When then the conviction of duty discovered 
the Union endangered the call to arms met a patriotic re- 

216 



THE CIVIL WAR 



sponse. There was a tremendous onrush to uphold the 
flag and defend the National honor. It needed some one 
to put the sixes and sevens of that turbulent time at 
rights; and the right man quietly found his way to the 
place wherein he belonged; wherein he was needed; and 
wherein he remained until joy and sadness, on that fated 
April night in Ford's theater, veiled each others' faces. 

Thus the Civil War of such great National import, 
far reaching consequences and final value to the whole 
country became a fact. It was unavoidable. It had to 
be. It was a four years' fraternal strife, military conflag- 
ration or whatever you may please to call it. Like all 
wars, it was, however, a blessing. It eliminated section- 
al hatred, established unity of sentiment; and made the 
United States of America a great united people, furnish- 
ing an opportunity to act a leading part in ridding the 
world in the greatest of wars of its greed, its distrust, its 
avarice, its undue ambition; its unjust monopoly and its 
heartless barbarism. 

While no one at heart welcomes war, yet it some- 
times seems to be the crucible in which the evil is con- 
sumed and out of which the good comes. It seems to be 
the only way by which what ought to be done can be 
done. 



217 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Reflections upon the Civil War carry us back to the 
cradle of those well advanced in life. 

That period is as interesting to the unborn of its 
time as to those who took part in it. Actual contact dis- 
sipates romance, which remains an enchantment when 
known only from story. Thus the present generation is 
as much interested in reminiscences of the Civil War as 
the old soldier. The assistance I rendered in rescuing 
the Republic from a great danger, was so insignificant, 
that I would not dare relate it for the entertainment of 
those who know, while I might expect to interest the un- 
initiated. 

The most interesting contributions touching war 
matters are naturally somewhat personal, so if the ego 
appears occasionally, please indulge. 

Immediately following the choice of Abraham Lin- 
coln in 1860, for the presidency, the cotton states began 
seceding, making his election an excuse, thereby under- 
taking to practice what they had preached so many 
years. This work went rapidly on and soon the issue of 
war was joined between the federal and confederate gov- 
ernments. To show the division of political feeling at 
that time, it may be interesting to relate that in a little 
Vermont village the Democrats challenged the Republic- 
ans to a lyceum discussion, in which the question was: 
"Resolved that the election of Abraham Lincoln to the 
presidency of the United States furnishes the southern 

218 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



States sufficient reason for seceding." This little affair 
was only one of the many straws showing the currents 
and counter-currents of public feeling. 

Had Breckenridge, or some one agreeable to the 
South, been chosen in the place of Lincoln, the war 
would have been, at least, deferred. 

The first patriotic outburst I recall was at Glover, 
where I was attending school. When the news of the 
surrender of Sumpter reached that place, the postoffice 
was crowded with students and residents awaiting the 
arrival of the mail. When it came one of the fathers 
read from the Boston Journal that Fort Sumpter had sur- 
rendered to the Confederacy. Following the. reading 
there was deep silence. Finally one of the party seized 
a broom, mounted the counter, and said, "Boys, let us 
give three cheers for the old flag!" The cheers were 
given with a zest, repeated with a tiger, and the crowd 
moved out of doors for a better opportunity to shake off 
the spell. One of the company said that he could not 
see why we cheered, that he felt more like crying over 
such news. The one who wanted to cry did not enlist. 

This little outburst brings to mind an occurrence re- 
ported in the City of Washington inauguration time. 
Rumors were in the air and whisperings were on the 
street. When the new President was finally in the chair 
of office, all were easier but the seceders, with whom 
general discontent appeared. Anxiety was however felt, 
for Mr. Lincoln's safety. A nervous spell of uneasiness 
prevailed. This painful silence was changed to clap- 
pings and shouting, when, inauguration night, from the 
balcony of one of the hotels a single voice sang the "Star 
Spangled Banner" as it was never sung before. The 
streets caught up the refrain and Washington City rang 
with a joyous noise. The spell was broken, the city was 

219 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



filled with joy; a new impulse filled the heart of the 
great man at the helm. 

The "Star Spangled Banner" was again seen waving 
over "land and home*! as of old. The singing of that 
song, at that time, under those circumstances, in the 
awful silence of that gloomy night, was the dropping in- 
to the sea of our national determination a pebble of en- 
couragement, which put in motion the billow of suppres- 
sion, which rolled on gathering size and power until the 
rebellion was overwhelmed. 

Upon the surrender of Sumpter Mr. Lincoln issued 
the promised proclamation for 75,000 men. This call 
touched the hearts of the people with a wonderful war 
spirit. Recruiting became the order of business through- 
out the North. Every little village raised a liberty pole and 
ran up a flag. An army began to gather at Washington. 
A Massachusetts regiment was mobbed in passing 
through Baltimore. Ellsworth was killed at Alexandria 
and a small battle was fought at Big Bethel. The 21st 
of July, 1861, the first battle of Bull Run was fought, dis- 
astrously to the Union arms. The news of this defeat 
somewhat dismayed the North. Vermont had the sec- 
ond regiment in the battle and felt a keen interest in the 
result. The dead of the battle and hospital began to re- 
turn and were buried with impressive ceremonies. 
They came home however for more recruits. The 
wounded and sick were home on furlough. 

Soon after this first real battle of the war, the im- 
pression settled down upon the North that it was more 
than a sixty day affair as some had preached. A very 
respectable army had gathered about Washington and 
many regarding the "unpleasantness," a mere summer's 
campaign, raised the cry, "on to Richmond." This on- 
ward cry undoubtedly precipitated the engagement, 

220 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



which, if it had been delayed for better preparation, 
might have borne different fruit. 

The battle, though a defeat, had its lesson. It united 
and strengthened the war sentiment of the country; it 
thoroughly roused the North and determined all as to the 
work ahead. 

Vermont hurried to the front the third regiment 
then ready for the field and in Camp Baxter at St. Johns- 
bury. In quick succession it raised and sent forward the 
fourth and fifth regiments. The last of September, 1861, 
the cavalry and sixth infantry were being recruited. 

I was then attending school at St. Johnsbury. A 
war meeting held in the town hall at that place was ad- 
dressed by Governor Fairbanks and a lieutenant from 
the regular army, who had only recently returned from 
the South. 

In that meeting I decided to enlist. I told Professor 
Colby, the principal of the Academy, the next day after 
the meeting, of my decision, and walked five miles to my 
home to advise with my father for I was a minor. He at 
first remonstrated, but finally consented. 

The next day I walked to Danville, where Colonel 
Preston was recruiting for the cavalry, reaching there 
about noon. 

The company he was recruiting was full, and that 
afternoon I continued my walk to Glover, reaching there 
about midnight, and found the company there being re- 
cruited for the sixth regiment also full. The next day I 
continued my walk to Barton and found a chance there 
to enlist with Colonel Sawyer, who was recruiting a com- 
pany from Orleans and Lamoille Counties for the cavalry. 

Thus, after traveling over forty miles, I became a 
soldier. At Barton, when I enlisted, I saw for the first 
time Captain Flint and Major Amasa Bartlett, both of 

221 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



whom so nobly gave their lives to the cause before the 
war closed, A few days later I went to Hyde Park, 
where Sawyer's recruits were gathering to await the or- 
ganization of the company. The organization of Co. I, 
1st Vt. Cavalry soon took place with Sawyer captain, 
Flint first lieutenant and myself second lieutenant. 

At Burlington the regiment soon gathered men and 
horses, completing its organization. We remained in 
Burlington, at Camp Ethan Allen for some weeks, re- 
ceiving horses and the paraphernalia of war generally. 
The regiment was an interesting sight when fully equip- 
ped and mounted. It was composed of fine men and 
handsome horses. At that early time it gave full evi- 
dence in both man and beast of those qualities which in 
the four following years carried it triumphantly through 
seventy-six battles. The regiment attracted much at- 
tention during its stay in Burlington. It was visited by 
many friends from all parts of the state. On the 12th of 
December, 1861, we left Camp Ethan Allen for the seat 
of war. We started about noon Saturday, and reached 
New York at noon the next day, where we remained un- 
til Monday, when, after a show off on Broadway, we 
shipped for Washington, unloading the next morning. 
Our journey from Burlington to Washington was one 
continuous ovation. The ladies lunched, the gentlemen 
cheered and the school children waved us on our way to 
the front. There we remained a few days, curiously ob- 
served by numerous Vermonters who happened to be at 
the Capital, when we moved to Annapolis, establishing 
ourselves in winter quarters. Here our stay was com- 
fortable for both soldier and horse. Our stockade tents 
were commodious and made good living places. The 
horses were kept in sheds. It was a camp of instruction, 
and the winter passed away quickly, pleasantly and prof- 

222 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



itably. Many a meal of oysters fresh from the waters of 
the Chesapeake graced the eating board of officers and 
men. The regiment was thoroughly drilled, and well 
prepared for active service by the middle of March, 1862, 
when we ground our sabers, broke camp and moved 
away to the South, joining General Bank's army in the 
Shenandoah Valley. 

We entered Virginia at Harper's Ferry, which was 
still fresh in ruin occasioned by the destruction of the ar- 
senal a few months before. There we saw the engine 
house where John Brown quartered his little squad that 
spread so much consternation through the South in 1859. 
We of course were curious about many other features of 
the raid, pointed out by an old gentleman too feeble for 
military duty, or he would, no doubt, have been in the 
rebel army. A few miles further to the South we passed 
through Charlestown where the old patriot was tried and 
hung. 

At this point we began to realize in the midst of 
what natural beauty we were. One of the loveliest val- 
leys in the country is the Shenandoah. It was at that 
time a pleasant stretch of well improved farming lands, 
not yet showing any of the scars of war. This valley 
follows up the river naming it, southward, between two 
beautiful mountain ranges only a few miles separated, 
for two hundred miles into the heart of the state to 
Charlottsville the home of Jefferson. There are few 
more charming spots than the Shenandoah Valley. 

At this time McClellan was operating against Rich- 
mond on the peninsula, and Stonewall Jackson, it was 
supposed, had gone to the relief of that city, leaving the 
valley with very little confederate force. Shields had ta- 
ken the greater part of the Union forces that had been in 
the valley, to join McDowell then at Fredericksburg and 

223 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



in conjunction with him, was to join McClellan. This 
state of things allowed Banks to move without opposition 
where he would; so he went south as far as Harrison- 
burg and returned to Fisher's Hill near Strasburg where 
our whole regiment at last came together as a part of 
Bank's army. 

On our way down the valley Colonel Holliday, who 
had been transferred to the command of our regiment 
from a captaincy in the regular cavalry, shot himself one 
morning as the regiment was taking up its line of march. 
He was a good soldier, a fine appearing gentleman and 
was much respected; but for some reason his life be- 
came intolerable. 

At Fisher's Hill, Colonel Tompkins, another regular 
army officer, came to lead us. He was a good officer and 
a brave man, but he found the Vermonters ready to fol- 
low where he led. 

Up to this time we had amused ourselves as best we 
could by gazing at the south bound tracks of Stonewall 
Jackson's army, calculating the probable number of days 
before McClellan would enter Richmond, and wondering 
whether we would have a chance to do any actual fight- 
ing before the war closed. Thus it was, until toward the 
latter part of June, 1862, when one night, Jackson, silent- 
ly moving up Luray Valley, came into the Shenandoah 
Valley at Front Royal, five miles to our rear, having 
along with him twenty thousand fresher tracks than we 
had yet seen, all of which were bound north. We were 
more interested in these tracks than we had been in 
those pointing south, because there were so many of the 
newer ones, and the circumstances of their appearing 
were so unexpected. We, however, as expeditiously as 
possible, put between this north-bound horde and the 
north pole about five thousand quickly made tracks, be- 

224 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



ing all that Bank's depleted army could muster. We had 
some hard fighting on the old Cedar Creek battle ground 
to do this. It is a wonder that so many of us made our 
way through and around such a superior force; but our 
anxiety to let them gaze at our tracks, had no doubt not 
a little to do in accomplishing the result. We succeeded 
in destroying the military stores we were unable to take 
with us, and with the loss of comparatively a few men 
reached Williamsport, Maryland, after marching and 
fighting day and night for sixty hours. This perform- 
ance was called "Bank's Retreat." 

When we were fairly north of the enemy our princi- 
pal work was to protect the baggage. Our regiment act- 
ed as rear guard, and while we gave some blows, were 
obliged to take more. It was our first serious experience 
under fire, and induced many original reflections as to 
the propriety of war. At Front Royal Jackson's advance 
was opposed by a regiment of Maryland Infantry and a 
part of the 5th New York Cavalry. This was all that 
prevented him from occupying our rear and as it turned 
out did not amount to any serious delay. It was Friday 
night that Jackson appeared at Front Royal, and during 
the next day there was fighting most of the time at Ce- 
dar Creek and Middletown, brought on by the efforts of 
our army to pass the Confederates at these points. 
About dark Saturday, six companies of our regiment, 
some of the 5th New York Cavalry and some artillery 
were still south of Jackson. We withdrew from the 
pike and moved to the foot of the Alleghanies, and 
there took a road parallel with the main road occupied 
by the Confederates, and moved with all the celerity con- 
sistent with keeping ourselves together and keeping the 
artillery with us. With the early dawn of Sunday we 
reached Winchester, and as we were offering our horses 

225 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



some forage, and eating something ourselves, the first 
for over thirty hours, we were reminded by the rattle of 
musketry just outside the town of Jackson's arrival. We 
went into our saddles quickly, and out to meet the sound 
of battle, for at last we were on the right side of the en- 
emy, to fight, if such a thing should be deemed advisable. 
We found long lines of infantry, heavy columns of caval- 
ry, and artillery enough to blow Bank's handful over the 
Blue Ridge. We kept their attention long enough to al- 
low them to get nicely ready for battle, and our trains 
well under way toward Martinsburg, when we withdrew 
under a severe fire with the loss of a few men, but not 
without returning the compliment. We were sorely 
crowded by the enemy all day Sunday, were obliged to 
make occasional stands to save the trains, precipitating 
cavalry brushes, in which little affairs few were hurt. 
We felt a deep sense of relief when about noon Monday 
we found ourselves north of the Potomac. It had been 
hurrying times since Friday, and we were a hungry, 
tired set of fellows. 

Jackson's movement against Banks was not for the 
advantage he might gain over him. He had larger game 
in view. McClellan was pressing hard upon Richmond; 
McDowell and Shields were expecting to co-operate with 
him; and Jackson's flying trip into the valley was intend- 
ed to confuse McClellan's operations, and prevent the 
co-operation of McDowell, thereby relieving the rebel 
capital. 

Fremont at this time was in West Virginia with 
quite a force. He was ordered to cross the Alleghanies, 
enter the valley in the vicinity of Harrisonburg, and in- 
tercept Jackson's army. Shields was ordered from near 
Fredericksburg to return to the valley, reaching it at 
about the same point as Fremont and co-operate. The 

226 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



plan was plausible, and tardiness of movement in our ar- 
mies was all that saved Jackson from the trap he had 
set for himself. Fremont did not move as ordered, but 
in some indirect way, for some reason, reached the val- 
ley further north, at Strasburg, in season to brush Jack- 
son's rear guard on his return south. After discovering 
Fremont, he retired a few miles further, selected his 
ground, turned and gave him battle. The result was not 
very decisive, but enough against Fremont to render 
him harmless in further pursuit. Jackson then hurried 
on to the south, passing Port Republic in season to es- 
cape Shields, then turned and gave him battle, serving 
him about as he did Fremont; after which he joined Lee 
in front of Richmond in season to have a hand in driving 
McClellan back under the gunboats, on the James River. 

Jackson's movement was a success, he not only con- 
fused our plans of operation, but he rejoined Lee in sea- 
son to help in the main fight. 

If the forces moving against Richmond had paid no 
attention to Jackson in the valley, but had gone vigorous- 
ly about their work while he was away, the seven days' 
fighting around Richmond might have resulted different- 
ly. 

In a military sense, Jackson's excursion into the val- 
ley was a brilliant affair. He met three armies, and in 
detail, gave them all the worst of the meeting. He was 
comparatively unknown before the war, and the armies 
he met were commanded respectively by a presidential 
candidate, an ex-United States senator and a former 
speaker of the national house of representatives. 

General Siegel was at Harper's Ferry with a few 
thousand men, and Siegel, Banks and Fremont ought to 
have been able to protect Washington from Jackson's 
movement, allowing McDowell and Shields to have done 

227 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



what they could with McClellan against Lee. Instead of 
this, Jackson's flurry seemed to paralyze the federal 
plans, and together with the result of the seven days' 
fighting, made it possible for Lee, in sixty days, to move 
his whole army northward against Pope threatening the 
safety of Washington. 

After a short stay at Williamsport, Banks was order- 
ed back into the valley. We returned as far as Winches- 
ter, where a brief stop was made. On our way to this 
place we met General Fremont and his staff going to 
Washington. It was understood he had been relieved of 
his command. The General wore a puzzled, disappoint- 
ed look, feeling, no doubt, that his ride to the capital was 
a retirement to comparative obscurity; and that what 
was left of the once high-sounding glory of Fremont and 
Jesse was declining. We soon moved on southward, 
camping a few days near Front Royal. From this place 
we made a reconnoisance down the Luray Valley as far 
as Luray courthouse, meeting a force of cavalry, which 
we charged, capturing two and killing a few. We had 
one man killed, or so badly wounded that he died on our 
return to camp, and was buried with military honors- 
The name of our camp was changed to the name of the 
unfortunate boy, in honor of his bravery. This charge 
was led by the intrepid Colonel Preston. It was not a 
great affair, for the numbers were small on both sides. 
Preston's reason for precipitating the dash was that it 
would do the men good to practice the work of war. 
His idea was that even good soldiers realized fear in first 
engagements, and that practice was the best agency for 
overcoming the dread of battle; that when accustomed 
to it, fighting was much like other work. In this re- 
spect, the Colonel was probably right, and it accounted 



228 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



for an occasional exposure to the enemy under his gal- 
lant leadership. 

A few days later we moved across the Blue Ridge 
eastward into the valley of Virginia, continuing our 
march until we reached the ancient village of Culpepper 
Court House. The Vermont cavalry led the movement, 
and for the last ten miles before reaching the Court 
House skirmished constantly with a force of rebel caval- 
ry. In this work Captain Grant and Sergeant Mason of 
Irasburg were both wounded. Our regiment also had 
two other men wounded that day, which was, all things 
considered, a hot Sunday in more respects than one. 

We remained in camp at Culpepper a few days. 
From this place we raided south to the Rapidan, where 
we found the Confederates in force. With three days' 
rations, we made a five days' observation as far to the 
southwest as Madison Court House, going well down 
toward Gordonsville. This was a fruitless movement. 
We saw nothing but the country, and found nothing but 
hunger. General Hatch was in charge of the expedition. 
On returning to camp he was relieved of his command. 
General Crawford was assigned to the cavalry, and un- 
der him we tried the enemy's front as far south as 
Orange Court House. Here we found quite a respect- 
able force of the enemy. We drove them into the 
town where the compliments of our meeting were ex- 
changed first with revolvers and carbines and then with 
the saber. We killed a few, captured a few, lost a few, 
and hastily withdrew, for it was ascertained we were 
near a large force of the enemy. 

About this time Pope had gathered his army in the 
vicinity of Culpepper; McClellan had commenced with- 
drawing from the peninsula; Lee had begun moving 
northward; and, as a preliminary to the interesting days 

229 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



that followed, the battle of Cedar Mountain was fought. 
Soon after this Lee continued northward by the left flank, 
seeking to cross at some of the fords of the Rappahan- 
nock. Pope moved by the right flank, guarding the river 
crossings. These two great armies, after a few days, 
met in bloody combat and fought the second battle of 
Bull Run. In this battle Pope was beaten. He had plan- 
ned well, made his dispositions energetically and exped- 
itiously, was personally active and fearless, but at the 
moment when the result of the battle depended upon 
promptness and obedience, these important supports 
were not given. Yes, Pope was beaten, but not until the 
army was beaten. He tenaciously and bravely fought 
all the chances for victory, and at nightfall of the second 
day of that bloody struggle, as he and the army that 
stood by him fell back towards Centerville, they were 
badly beaten and realized it keenly. Yet not so badly 
off, in any sense, as those who had found a way not to 
take a helpful part in the battle. While perhaps none 
wanted the army beaten it was and still is, believed that 
some from the Army of the Potomac were willing Pope 
should be defeated. Jealousy and prejudice were strong- 
er than patriotism. Pope was relieved of the command 
of the army of Virginia, his army blended with that of 
the Potomac, and the command again given to McClellan. 
General McClellan collected the forces that had ac- 
cumulated around Washington and started on a cam- 
paign against Lee, who had made his way north of the 
Potomac. This campaign resulted in the battle of Antie- 
tam repulsing the enemy. After the second Bull Run 
battle, and before the Maryland victory, the garrison at 
Harper's Ferry, numbering about ten thousand men, un- 
der General Miles, surrendered to the entreaties of Stone- 
wall Jackson. 

230 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



It was now well into September, 1862, and since 
June of that year the measure of our military success in 
the east had not been kept very full. Banks, Fremont, 
Shields, McClellan, Pope, Milroy and Miles, each having 
commands more or less independent in position and pur- 
pose, had severally met the enemy without advantage to 
the Union arms. The Generals were not satisfied with 
what had been done. The army was not satisfied with 
its work. The authorities at Washington were no better 
pleased than the Generals and the army. Fourteen 
months had passed since the first battle of Bull Run, and 
the army of the Potomac, which had been relied upon to 
capture Richmond, had made no appreciable headway in 
its work. Two summers and one winter— more than a 
full year— with two seasons for military operations, had 
rolled by and the rebellion was not suppressed. 

Thus matters stood in the early fall of 1862, and 
while the Federal army had not had its own way, it felt 
fully its ability, and a deep-seated determination, in due 
time, to enjoy such a pleasure. 

The Vermont cavalry did not go with McClellan, and 
was not at the battle of Antietam. It remained in camp 
near Fort Scott, one of the fortifications south of the Po- 
tomac, for the defense of Washington, and made occa- 
sional movements to the south in the interest of protect- 
ing the capital from that direction, until after Burnside 
had moved against Fredericksburg, December, 1862. 

It was while here that a detachment of the Regi- 
ment reconnoitered to the front as far as Aldie, where, in 
a charge upon the enemy, the brave Captain Perkins of 
Company H lost his life. Fearlessly he dashed upon the 
foe, realizing, however, not the victory but the cold shock 
of death. 

A portion of the regiment was used in the fall of 

231 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



1862, under Colonel Wyndham, for reconnoitering pur- 
poses as far toward the rebel capital as Warrenton. It 
was on this service that a somewhat ridiculous affair hap- 
pened. The Colonel had a command of several hundred 
cavalry, composed of details from different regiments, as- 
sisted by a couple of pieces of artillery. When in sight 
of Warrenton and quite a body of the enemy's cavalry, 
we stopped on a hill a few hundred rods outside of the 
village, disposing ourselves in battle array. Between 
our front and the village there was a small piece of 
woods in which we posted pickets and threw out skir- 
mishers. Captain Flint had charge of this advance, and 
in all, we probably numbered about one hundred and fif- 
ty men; the rest of our force being about one mile to the 
rear, under cover of the artillery. 

After a while the enemy formed about four or five 
hundred in a column of platoons and charged us. As 
they approached, we fired and fell back. After fall- 
ing back about one-half the distance to our re- 
serve, I rallied a few men in line and met the charg- 
ing host. The few that stopped to do this had a close 
race the rest of the way. We knew not where the re- 
serve was, but expected to find it at every jump our 
horses made. So we kept on in flying suspense, until the 
foremost boys in gray were mingling with those in blue, 
when at last we emerged from a small piece of woods, 
pitched over the crest of a short hill, dropping upon a 
level piece of cleared ground on which our reserves were 
drawn up; and the artillery was posted. As the blue 
coats cleared the brow of the hill our artillery opened, 
and just over our heads, yelled the grape and canister. 
It was a welcome sound to us, being preferable to the 
yell of the rebels. We had a lively run and a narrow es- 
cape, many of our men being taken prisoners. The New 

232 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



York papers soon after told us what a cunning trap Col- 
onel Wyndham had drawn the enemy into down in the 
vicinity of Warrenton. Perhaps it was a trap, but the 
spindle carrying the bait was too long and the bait was 
too large. The discomfiture of the bait was more ser- 
ious to us than the springing of the trap to the enemy. 

Later in the winter of 1863, a part of our regiment 
was stationed on picket duty at Dranesville. Here we 
were annoyed by the rebel guerrilla, Mosby. He carried 
on quite a business for several weeks, in capturing and 
killing pickets and otherwise raiding our outposts. It 
was thought that Dranesville was too much exposed as a 
picket post, that more protection would be afforded 
Washington by retiring a few miles, and greater security 
would be given the picket line. So on the 30th day of 
March, 1863, we fell back from Dranesville about eight 
miles, and established ourselves in camp at Ball's church 
on the Dranesville pike. About midnight the last day of 
March, a detail was called for from the regiment, of 
about one hundred and twenty men. We were to go to 
Dranesville and capture Mosby. We had information 
that he entered the place the night before with about six- 
ty men. Our force consisted of details from six com- 
panies. It was commanded by Captain Flint. Lieuten- 
ant Holden of Company C, Lieutenant Woodbury of Com- 
pany B, Captain Bean of Company G and Lieutenant 
Grout of Company I were the other officers. It had snowed 
the day before, and toward morning was quite cold. We 
started on our expedition, moving as rapidly as possible 
and reached Dranesville about daybreak. We divided 
and disposed of the detail, so as to move into the village 
on the different roads entering it, and upon a carbine sig- 
nal, the different detachments charged into the town, 
finding Mosby gone. He had been there the night be- 

233 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



fore, and taking the Leesburg pike, had moved away in 
that direction. His trail was visible in the snow, and we 
followed about three miles along the pike, finding it turn- 
ed at Broad Run leading toward the Potomac. From 
our proximity to the river, we knew that the enemy 
could not be far away. On leaving the pike we passed 
over a very poor, muddy road, that led through a dwarf 
growth of timber. In doing this our formation was by 
twos. After a distance of about one hundred rods, we 
came to an open field which was fenced and on the fur- 
ther or river side of which were the Miskel farm build- 
ings. In the barnyard of these buildings, enclosed by a 
strong fence, was the object of our pursuit in full readi 
ness to receive us. It was no optical illusion; there, in 
the full light of that bright April-fool morning, we saw 
Mosby's force, larger than we expected, one hundred 
and fifty strong, — vaulting into their saddles. The tug 
of war had come. 

Our men had been riding some six hours in the cold 
of a cool morning and were chilly. Our horses had 
moved at a quick walk for nearly twelve miles, over mud- 
dy roads and were somewhat tired. Our men all had on 
their overcoats. Mosby, his men and horses, were fresh 
and warm from a night's rest and an early breakfast. 

His men were all in line in the barnyard, and our 
men were strung along the dirt road, back to the pike, in 
column of twos. The advantage of formation for a cav- 
alry combat was decidedly in favor of the enemy. The 
physical condition of the two bodies of troops was also in 
their favor. In leaving the woods through which we had 
scatteringly made our way, we entered the cleared field 
through a gate that was so hung as to do its own shut- 
ting; and which, upon entering the field, we fastened 
open. We were armed with pistols and sabres, all but 

234 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



those from the detail, from Companies I and D, who car- 
ried pistols, sabres and carbines. The enemy carried 
only pistols. Thus equipped, arrayed and conditioned, a 
collision was imminent. Mosby was cornered. To his 
north was the Potomac; to his west, Broad Run; and we 
occupied to his south. It was an interesting position, sug- 
gestive of a fight, which, from the nature of the case, 
would be short, sharp and decisive. Up to this time the 
Vermont cavalry had met the enemy on sixteen different 
occasions, but none of those meetings had worn quite as 
desperate an appearance. 

Mosby had recently come into prominence as a lead- 
er of guerrilla bands. It was only a few weeks before 
this that he had raided the headquarters of the second 
Vermont brigade at Fairfax Court House, capturing and 
carrying away its commander. General Stoughton. He 
had made several predatory ventures during the winter 
of 1863, with annoying results. Some of them had fallen 
upon Vermonters, and so with our Regiment he and his 
operations had been frequently under discussion. On 
our way to this danger spot we had been instructed to 
use the saber. Captain Flint believed in cold steel for 
the rebels. It was his notion that they would not stand 
in a fight where the saber was foremost, so his orders 
were to use freely the saber blades we had so carefully 
sharpened about a year before, on leaving Annapolis. 
From the gate into the field up to the barn-yard the dis- 
tance was probably about fifty rods. I was ordered, 
while passing the gate, to move quickly up toward the 
yard and engage the enemy with the carbineers who 
were in front. With all possible celerity this order was 
obeyed. In executing the movement, an effort was made 
to create a new formation as near in line as possible, from 
the formation in column of twos we had kept from the 

235 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



pike to the field, without coming to a halt. In traveling 
over the soft field and forming anew in this way, some 
confusion showed itself, which, when in line, had 
brought us too near the enemy for the best results from 
carbines against pistols, being within pistol range. Prob- 
ably forty of the detail had reached this position, and 
were giving the best fire possible, and taking patiently a 
lively return. It was a hot place. The enemy, using pis- 
tols, had more shots than we. We were in close proxim- 
ity, separated not more than six or eight rods from each 
other. Our men endeavored to tear down the barnyard 
fence, two falling dead in the attempt. At this point 
Captain Flint rode past me crying out, "Tear down the 
fence, boys, and get at them with the saber." He did 
not know that we had just offered two lives in essaying 
to comply with his daring request, and that others had 
retired before the storm of bullets and splinters in under- 
taking the same thing. Captain Flint rode probably ten 
feet nearer the enemy than the rest of us, swinging his 
saber and crying, "Come on," when he fell dead, pierced 
through neck and body by five bullets. Up to this time 
the men who went into the field and took part in this 
desperate attack, had behaved with a coolness and delib- 
eration born of the dress parade. Company C, under 
Lieutenant Holden, and Company B under Lieutenant 
Woodbury, had come out from the woods on their own 
account and joined the work at the front. Probably not 
more than one-half of our detail came out of the woods 
into the field where the fighting was done. About the 
time Captain Flint fell the barnyard gate swung open, 
and Mosby poured his whole force out thereat upon our 
right flank and into our rear. The greatest possible ef- 
fort was made to change the position of our men so as to 
meet this new movement of the enemy. At first it seem- 

236 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



ed we would succeed, but the enemy were soon behind, 
around, and all amongst us, and it was impossible to long- 
er maintain formation or order; and the brave men, after 
meeting such desperate odds, and facing so long such a 
destructive fire, fell reluctantly back toward the gate 
through which we passed into the field. This gate had 
been closed, and against it our men were pressing for es- 
cape. It seemed but a moment after they broke up be- 
fore those who came forward into the field were nearly 
all cornered and captured. After almost every one had 
retired from the vicinity of the engagement near the 
yard, Holden, Woodbury, and perhaps half a dozen men 
gathered asking what should be done. I said that we 
would charge the enemy, who were needlessly firing into 
our men cornered at the gate. We started to carry out 
this plan and while moving back to execute it a smooth 
faced rebel boy spoke me good-morning with pistol well 
aimed and ordered a surrender. He, however, disappear- 
ed as quickly as he appeared, the spur having found Lit- 
tle Sorrel in the right spot, and my saber threatening his 
head. It is fresh in memory, even after the lapse of so 
many years, what a concerned, disappointed look this 
boyish face wore as his pistol lost its aim and he his 
game. 

By the time the boy was disposed of the gate comer 
had been reached. The ever faithful Little Sorrel car- 
ried me into the presence of a dozen or more graybacks, 
one of whom, quick as a flash, was complimented with a 
full saber cut square on the head. While delivering this 
cut a pistol shot in my right side suspended further ac- 
tion. The faithful blade, that had always been so com- 
panionable, was dropped where it found its mark, and 
my hands flew involuntarily up in recognition of the fact 



237 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



that I was hit and we were whipped. Instead of captur- 
ing Mosby, he had captured us. 

No sooner were the hands up than a half dozen on 
the ground rushed around, demanding a surrender. 
They were told that any boy, under the circumstances, 
could make such a demand. They very thoughtfully 
said, "You no business riding round here this way, and 
get off your horse, quick!" They were told it was impos- 
sible to get down from the horse, and saying they would 
help, one gave me a rough push for that purpose. Ex- 
cept for falling upon Little Sorrel's neck and swinging 
down under it in front, a fall to the ground would have 
been the result. At this point, some of our boys who 
had surrendered, caught and carried me away a few 
steps under a tree. At my request, Mosby left two of 
our men to care for the wounded; and at his own in- 
stance, as hurriedly as possible gathered up the fruits of 
his capture and moved away. We had fourteen killed 
and wounded. The enemy had three killed, and some 
that rode away were badly wounded; how many I never 
knew. In noting the escapes, I found seven bullet holes 
in my clothes, one in my body, and knew that Little Sor- 
rel arrested three of that morning's busy messengers. 
It was close, sharp, hot, spiteful work, and best described 
by an old lady who lived at the road corner where we left 
the pike. She said the firing sounded like popping com. 
Soon after Mosby left, the occupant of the farm house, 
with an ox team, drew to the house the wounded, and to 
the barn the dead. That afternoon our regiment came 
out and removed the dead and those of the wounded who 
were able to ride in an ambulance. Four of our men 
were left in the house, and one rebel. Three of this num- 
ber and the rebel died before morning. 

On our way to the fight Captain Flint informed me 

238 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



that I would have charge of the carbineers and lead the 
advance; that Captain Bean of Company G was to have 
charge of the balance of the command, acting as a sup- 
port. Captain Bean did not come out of the woods into 
the field and took no part in the fight. His part of the 
detail rendered no service. It was when Mosby saw 
that our supports were failing us that he swung out of 
the yard. Had we been supported the day might have 
gone differently. It was said that Captain Bean was the 
first to reach camp, and that he rode in bareheaded, 
shouting "The rebels are upon us!" He was soon after 
dismissed from the service for his conduct that morning. 
Lieutenant Woodbury was killed while rallying the men 
after reaching the pike, for refusing to surrender. I did 
not see him after our separation at the barnyard. 

Captain Flint was one of the senior of the line. He 
was thought highly of by all in the regiment, and was 
considered first in order for promotion. He was kind, 
quiet and brave. He had the responsibility of the morn- 
ing upon him. He was earnest and determined, and con- 
sidering all the surroundings and circumstances of the 
affair, it is not strange that his zeal approached excite- 
ment. It would seem when the numbers, readiness and 
position of the enemy were discovered, and we could no 
longer expect to surprise them, that a different course on 
our part might have been wise, but cowardice was not 
anticipated. If, when Bean failed, Flint could have 
brought up the waiting men it would have been a timely 
arrival. It is not, however, an occasion for criticism. 
Captain Flint patriotically, conscientiously and fearlessly 
gave a generous, noble life to the cause. He died in the 
noisy rattle of a sharp little battle, foremost in the des- 
perate struggle. Few of the old soldiers rest more hon- 
orably among the green hills of Vermont. 

239 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Flint and Woodbury were from Orleans County, and 
one sleeps in the quiet cemetery near Irasburg Common, 
the other in the cemetery on Craftsbury Common. They 
enlisted together, were mustered in together, endured the 
hardships of the service together, breasted the dangers 
of battle together, and finally, they were mustered out, 
on that beantiful April morning together. May love and 
peace hallow their slumbers until the last old soldier of 
the Vermont cavalry has crossed the river.. 

Additional to the foregoing could be given accounts 
of many other army incidents of more or less signifi- 
cance. Such as marches, camp life, skirmishes, en- 
counters, battles, hospital life, that the soldier finds in 
the course of a two years, service in the field 

The Broad Run or Miskel Farm engagement with 
Mosby ended my service in the 1st Vt. Cavalry. The 
wound I received was severe. My condition was such 
that the correspondents reported me killed in action. 
It was several days before this report was corrected at 
my home in Vermont The ball entered the body between 
the 8th and 9th ribs on the right side and passed down 
and back so as to injure the sciatic nerve of the right leg, 
lodging where it remains. The pain was in the right 
foot and intense for a long time, traces of which at times, 
recur. 

Four months after. Governor Holbrook sent me a 
captain's commission on Colonel Preston's recommenda- 
tion on which I was mustered, but could not pass physi- 
cal examination for duty. Six months after the wound 
I was again examined but did not pass for duty, when I 
asked to be discharged and was discharged, as it happen- 
ed, an even two years from the day I enlisted. 

This two year period of service was the grandest 
section of my life. I would not exchange its experiences, 

240 



MY PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



hardships, dangers and sufferings for the joys, pleasures 
and triumphs of the balance of my earthy allotment. 

It is good, it is great, it is grand, to serve one's coun- 
try; and the young, unmarried man should esteem it the 
opportunity of his existence, to meet and conquer any 
war dangers threatening his country. 

I have used a great many words to relate the part I 
took in the Civil War and really have omitted as many 
or more interesting happenings of one kind and another, 
during that two-year period, than I have related; and so 
I will in a more comprehensive form of expression give 
you my part in the Civil War by just simply telUng you 
that— I WAS THERE— in all two years and a half. 

THE 26TH N. Y. CAVALRY 

The 26th N. Y. Cavalry was occasioned by the St. Al- 
bans raid. This raid was made by about 20 daring South- 
erners who radiated from Montreal, for the purpose of 
intimidation and plunder. The raid was accomplished in 
open day, about noon, by the men appearing on all the 
principal streets simultaneously demonstrating revolv- 
ers and entering and robbing the banks and disappearing 
upon horses seized from the livery stables. In the twin- 
kle of an eye the whole was over and the robbers were 
mounted and on their way back into Canada. 

The whole Northern Frontier was at once guarded; 
and the 26th N. Y. Cavalry, composed of companies from 
New York, Massachusetts and Vermont, was organized 
to do the guarding. I enlisted in one of the two Ver- 
mont companies and was made captain from which I 
was soon promoted to major; and for about six months 
prior to the close of the war was in command of the Post 
at St. Albans. 

All the practices of war were observed in camp and 
that portion of the regiment under my command became 
proficient soldiers. 

This service was not fraught with danger and hard- 
ship; but none the less, required discipline and the gen- 
eral work of a soldier's life. 

241 



MY BUSINESS LIFE 



At the close of the Civil War, in July, 1865, 1 entered 
my brother's law office at Barton resuming the study of 
the law. I had done a little at this, in the law office 
of O. T. Brown, Esq., at St. Johnsbury East, before 
the war. Upon being discharged from the army it was 
not easy to decide what to do. Opportunities tempted to 
go West and grow up with the Country. I could have 
had a lieutenant's commission in the regular army which 
was quite a temptation. Promising business openings, 
wherein I could utilize the savings I had made during 
the war, shied glances. 

I did not, however, allow any of these beguilements 
to swerve me from my early purpose to be a lawyer. I 
had been in Court, been at conventions, heard public 
speeches, met public men and was persuaded notwith- 
standing all else that I would enter the legal profession. 

After my discharge from the Cavalry in October, 
1863, and before entering the frontier service in Decem- 
ber, 1864, 1 was at Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois, 
expecting to take a course but was attracted home by 
the St. Albans raid which ended in the 26th N. Y. Caval- 
ry service. 

While at Galesburg I enjoyed the lyceum, rhetorical 
and mock court exercises more than any other features 
of the college. 

Lincoln's second election occurred while there and 
several large mass meetings were held during the cam- 

242 



MY BUSINESS LIFE 



paign. At these meetings I heard Owen Lovejoy, Schuyler 
Colfax, John A. Logan, Robert Ingersoll, Richard J Ogles- 
by and others. These men were great speakers and so 
I heard many great speeches. 

Oglesby in this campaign was Republican candidate 
for governor and realized the first of his several different 
elections as governor of Illinois. 

The students of Lombard made a banner inscribed 
with Oglesby and Bross, the Republican candidates for 
governor and lieutenant governor, and the same was pre- 
sented to them at one of the mass meetings. I had the 
honor of being the spokesman of the occasion. 

Several years after, when a U. S. Senator, I saw Gov- 
ernor Oglesby at Moline, Illinois, and had a very pleas- 
ant chat with him. On this occasion introducing him as 
the Speaker at a mass meeting he addressed. Richard 
J. Oglesby was one of the Nation's great statesmen and 
a very captivating speaker. 

War diversions and preparatory considerations dis- 
posed of I addressed myself to Blackstone, Kent and 
Chitty. The short six months from July to December, 
1865, were filled with study and practice, doing a large 
part of the justice work of my brother's office. This led 
to several all night justice jury trials. In one of these 
the Hon. B. H. Steel, just before he went to the Supreme 
Court bench, was opposing counsel. In this particular 
trial I was alone and won. At the December Term of 
Court at Irasburg in 1865, Judge Steel advised me to ap- 
ply for admission to the bar. I did so, was passed by 
the committee, composed of John L. Edwards, H. C. Wil- 
son and W. D. Crane and admitted; and of the 25 differ- 
ent lawyers practicing in Orleans County at that time I 
am the only one living. My preparation for the profes- 
sion was indeed short, sharp and decisive. 

243 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



I remained in my brother's office about one year 
practicing; and during this time we owned and pubUshed 
the Barton Standard. In the fall of 1866, I went to Is- 
land Pond in charge of the Custom House at that place; 
and was in the Customs Service the following six years, 
in charge there, at St. Albans and Newport. I practiced 
law in Essex County while stationed at the Pond; and in 
1872, leaving the Customs Service, I opened a law office 
at Newport, continuing in practice there until 1875, when 
I moved to Chicago. While at Newport I had a full hand 
of business. In December, 1874, our house at Newport 
was burned; and being out of house and home, as the ex- 
pression has it, is why I moved away. 

I practiced law in in Chicago three years with good 
success. I was alone in this work and busy with enough 
important paying cases to make it pleasant, interesting, 
and profitable. 

In doing a certain piece of work for one of my best 
clients, of a business character, I was led away from my 
Chicago law office and into the management of a manu- 
facturing business that ran through a period of 25 years. 
At the onset of this employment I little thought it would 
continue as it did; and so was inadvertently drawn away 
from the law. This business called constantly for the 
best that was in me. It was conducting a manufactory; 
making, selling, judging credits, collecting and keeping 
even, which, when once the business was under way, was 
not difficult to do; and it was really very profitable. I 
did not conduct this business in my own interest, but for 
others, for a compensation. This business I alone for- 
mulated, organized, developed and conducted, for 25 
years, as though it were my own, without once being au- 
dited or in any way accounting during the whole period. 
It involved large sums of money each year, returning 

244 



MY BUSINESS LIFE 



handsome profits, and was left altogether and entirely 
with and to me; and at the close of the time stated I was 
able to turn it all over in a many time multiplied form to 
the owner, with every dollar and everything relating 
thereto, present and accounted for. 

This was a very pleasant result; and I always have 
had and always shall have the kindliest and pleasantest 
recollections of the business itself and of the highly hon- 
orable and able men to whose ownership the business re- 
lated and who trusted me without a question so long and 
so carelessly. Since the affair was an incog matter from 
end to end, in all respects, I will be excused from being 
more explicit than to say it related to one of the most im- 
portant, interesting, long established, highly honorable 
business establishments of Vermont. The business was 
at Moline, Illinois, a manufacturing city I saw grow from 
six to thirty thousand inhabitants, in the 25 years. 

This business was a trust, the commission of which 
was to do a certain kind of business and make it a suc- 
cess or close it out. The commission was successfully 
realized and the trust allowed without even a "scrap of 
paper" to run its own limitations. I was trustee of a 
large, valuable property, which by a very simple system 
of book keeping was kept in hand and easily accounted 
for. It was an important trust created by word of 
mouth, continued by word of mouth, involving many hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and finally concluded by word of 
mouth. 

In 1881, 1 reestablished my home in Vermont at Der- 
by on the Hinman homestead and began farming. The 
farm I organized was at Derby Center Village known as 
Clydeside. I ran it 30 odd years and in many respects it 
was one of the best farms in the State. In 1916, 1 sold it 
and moved to Newport City where I now reside. 

245 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



I was not able to keep any more than a whole skin 
in my farming business because I suppose I neither held 
nor drove. Hiring all the work done on a farm does not 
return very flattering profits. 

In 1905, I resumed the practice of law at Newport 
with my son, Aaron; realizing a very good business; but 
health suggestions retired me from this practice in 1912; 
since which time I have been an experimental gardener 
and health conservator if anyone knows what kind of a 
business that is. 

My business life then subdivides somewhat as fol- 
lows: 6 years in the Customs Service, 30 years manufact- 
uring and farming, 20 years practicing law, rounding out 
a full period of 56 years or more to say nothing of a few 
years of my present employment. 

These 56 years have been busy ones and at times 
seemingly more than busy. I have taken no vacations, 
nor have I been a golf player, nor any kind of a sport, if 
I know what a sport is. I believe I have found the tonic 
for uniform good health in moderation in all things; and 
I believe present day vacations, as they are practiced, are 
generally speaking so much lost time. Everyone in the 
regular course of business or work should get the requi- 
site out door benefits, and they are the best of it all, in a 
matter of course way every day; by omitting many a 
night stunt and many a day indulgence, which do not 
help in the aggregate, but in detail dissipate and waste. 

One gets a vacation and becomes strenuously occu- 
pied in one way or another to enjoy it, to build up and 
supply lost energy, strength and health; and seldom 
gains much if any of that which he seeks; oftener than 
otherwise only adds to instead of restoring the lost. You 
must do it yourself. All the doctors in Christendom are 
of no avail in such matters. Old but true it is, that early 

246 



MY BUSINESS LIFE 



to bed and early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and 
wise. 

Travel some, of course; go about some, of course; 
but temperately year in and year out, weave into your 
life the helps that make for health and strength; and if 
you cannot do this your habits need reforming. No one 
can do it for you; and telling about it does not do it. 



247 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 

I am subdividing the activities of my life so as to sim- 
plify somewhat my doings and put each line of action by 
itself. 

I am not a politician and never was. I have, how- 
ever, held elective positions; and have solicited the votes 
of the people; oftener be it known, though, have been fa- 
vored with offices, entirely without solicitation. 

In concluding my official work I was more than sat- 
isfied, forever after, to have others hold the offices, bear 
the burdens and share the responsibilities of serving the 
people in an official capacity. 

In 1872, 1 represented Newport in the House at Mont- 
pelier and again in 1874; and the Hon. H. H. Powers, the 
Speaker of that Session, being elevated to the Supreme 
Court Bench, I was chosen Speaker of the House upon 
his retirement from the Speakership, 

This legislative service I enjoyed very much. The 
1874 House was unusually strong. It had about 50 mem- 
bers, men much of the kind and character of Speaker 
Powers. It transacted much important business, cleared 
the tables of everything that came before it; and adjourn- 
ed in 40 days. 

In 1880, while at Moline, Illinois, I took an active 
part in campaigning for Garfield's election; and the good 
people of that city chose me Supervisor from the city of 
Moline for Rock Island County; and also the Republican 
Committee for that County invited me to become a can- 
didate for Congress from the Galesburg District, where 

248 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



I had done most of the campaign work. These tempta- 
tions were appreciated but not allowed to go any further. 

I represented the Town of Derby in 1884 and again 
in 1886 and again in 1888. In 1886 and 1888 I was Speak- 
er. These were all pleasant sessions. The work of each 
session was accomplished within an average 45 day limit. 

In the sessions I was not Speaker, I was upon the ju- 
diciary committee; and had the chairmanship of corpora- 
tions and one session, of elections. Corporations was a 
busy committee, when all institutions in the State from 
cemeteries to railroads were incorporated by the Gener- 
al Assembly. 

In 1890, 1 declined another election from Derby. 

In 1892, I was in the Senate from Orleans County 
and was on judiciary and chairman of corporations. 

In 1904, 1 was again returned from Derby. I asked 
this election for personal reasons which did me no good 
however; and yet I was and am still grateful to the good 
people of Derby for their well intended part. 

In 1892, when in the Senate, I let it be known that I 
would like to be Governor of Vermont. All seemed to 
be agreeable and so my candidacy for that office was 
launched. As far back as 1874, it was said to me that I 
must get ready for the governorship, for it would call me 
some day. In 1884, 1886 and 1888 similar taffy was given 
me by a goodly number of friends. So much such en- 
couragement was held out that I felt justified in becom- 
ing a candidate. 

In 1895, there was a legislative reunion at Montpe- 
lier, at which Speaker W. W. Stickney became a candi- 
date; and so in about one year in advance of the 1896 
election, the canvass for the next Governor began. 

While I did not feel that my earthly happiness de- 
pended upon being Governor of Vermont, yet being a 

249 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



candidate under the circumstances and having such gen- 
eral encouragement, I decided not to retire from the field. 

The canvass grew apace, early assuming interesting 
proportions; friends changed, and soon Washington 
County became the center of cogitation, agitation and ac- 
tion; and from this center was radiated many and many 
a propaganda of one kind and another. Friend Stickney 
was deservedly popular, but the real push of the cam- 
paign was not so much his popularity as an ulterior pur- 
pose ambushed in Washington County. 

In May, 1896, the canvass, growing warmer and 
warmer, meantime became red hot. The result was any- 
one's guess. Each candidate was confident. 

At this stage of the game a caucus was held for the 
City of Burlington; and by a close vote in a sharp fight 
Mr. Stickney won the 19 delegates. According to the re- 
port of my friends it was a caucus, in every respect; and, 
of course, a surprise, more to my friends than to me, for 
I had heard of things brewing. 

This was the first gun, and from this on to the con- 
vention held in June, every town in Vermont did a cau- 
cus work, the like of which it had never known before 
and has not known since. Caucus after caucus flew off 
night after night, like so many comets, the last one being 
held the night before the convention. 

I kept a close tab on every caucus, and, by the help 
of friends, knew that, all keeping their word, I would win; 
yet so heated was the canvass and so intense was the 
feeling that it still seemed anyone's guess. 

Candidate Stickney came to the convention, held at 
Burlington, with confident assurance; and his followers 
were decorated with red Stickney badges, quite flashing, 
which the convention lobby and many visiting friends 
wore; betting 2 to 1 on his chances. 

250 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



My friends were fearful as they beheld the Stickney 
emblazonry and push; and so reported; but having con- 
fidence in the assurances of support I had received, and 
knowing the report of every caucus, I assured all who in- 
quired of success; and trustingly awaited the action of 
the convention; feeling sure I would be nominated by at 
least 3 majority; and that upon information at hand I 
ought to have seven. Mr. Stickney claimed anywhere 
from 25 to 50 majority. This sort of a claim gave me all 
the more confidence, for I well knew, though it would be 
close, that such a broad claim was either bluff or mis- 
taken. 

Every delegate was in his seat when the convention 
roll of about 750 was called. A very unusual attendance. 

I received 3 majority on the first ballot; thus did the 
good old rule of 3 save me from the trigonometry of an- 
gles and angles and angles. 

Within three minutes from the declaration of the 
vote, which was recounted and recounted to satisfy, the 
greater part of the Stickney Delegates disappeared from 
the hall. They went in flocks to take their trains home; 
and the red badges disappeared as quickly as the dele- 
gates, so that when I appeared to accept the nomination, 
I found but few if any more than those who had support- 
ed me. 

All through the canvass the shout went up and out 
that there was too much Grout, all Grout; and besides, 
the Grouts were old rounders. This slogan was used by 
the "tick" that ticked all around and all about in and out 
radiating from Washington County. Of course it was 
all right for other families in the State to have two or 
more of its members hold state or national offices, and at 
the same time; but for the Grout family to do such an aw- 
ful thing was not far from criminal. This shout and jab- 

251 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ber, do not forget, had an effect upon the ulterior of it all. 

I took part m the campaign that followed and in Sep- 
tember, 1896, was elected Governor by the largest major- 
ity ever recorded for Governor in the State of Vermont, 
which result was then, has ever since been, is now and 
ever will be a source of great satisfaction. 

I entered upon my gubernatorial duties at the follow- 
ing October session, at Montpelier and I cannot tell you 
about the conception and initiative of those duties better 
than to ask you, after reading the speeches of acceptance 
and opening the campaign at Burlington, to read the 
message that follows, which I submitted to the General 
Assembly as required by the Constitution upon taking 
the oath of office. 

The message may be interesting as showing the con- 
dition of Vermont's public matters at that time; and the 
disposition of the official establishment at the State 
House, to despatch business. Compare these features 
with more recent times. The October session of 1896, 
adjourned before Thanksgiving. 

SPEECH AT BURLINGTON TO THE 
CONVENTION ACCEPTING THE NOMINATION IN 1895 

Gentlemen of the Convention: 

I thank you for placing me where I cannot escape be- 
ing the next Governor of Vermont. It is pleasant to ac- 
knowledge such a favor. You are all friends and I thank 
you all; but you must allow me to thank with a gratitude 
just a little nearer the heart, those who really nominated 
me. You see they are responsible for what will follow. 

You call me to the supreme moment of my life, and 
promising the best endeavor, I accept your kind 
summons. 

The honor of being nominated to do the will and 

252 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



abide the pleasure of a people so proud in history, so bril- 
liant in conduct and so patriotic in purpose, as the sons 
and daughters of Vermont, I assure you has my most 
grateful appreciation. 

Vermont is small in territory but great in resources; 
modest in pretension but commanding in behavior; lim- 
ited in quantity but unlimited in quaUty; and in every 
State of our great nation the Vermonter born of such 
propitious conditions forges to the front, is admired for 
his courage, respected for his industry, appreciated for 
his enterprise and honored for what he does. I would 
rather be Governor of Vermont than of any other State in 
the Union. You honor me greatly and again 1 thank you 
sincerely. 

To be conducted to such an honor upon a Republic- 
an platform is more than pleasant. It is the best of it all. 
I do not feel in the least Uke the inappreciative son-in- 
law, who, when told at his wife's funeral that he would 
accompany his wife's mother to the cemetery, replied 
that he supposed he could do so, but it would greatly 
mar the pleasure of the occasion. The most active pleas- 
ure coming to me from this occasion is that I am to ride 
in Republican company and in a Republican chariot to a 
Republican victory next September. 

The funeral will be of the Democratic party, which 
we are sure to bury beyond the hope of resurrection. 
Republican victory though will be replete with responsi- 
bility. The Republican party returned to power, as it 
soon will be, will be under a greater responsibility than 
any it has met since the Civil War. But where can we 
better trust the interests of the Republic than in the 
hands of that party which never betrayed them? Let us 
in the coming national election restore to power the par- 
ty of our choice and our love; because it has always been 

253 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



the party of principle and progress, of devotion and sac- 
rifice, of protection and prosperity, of pledge and perfor- 
mance, of conviction and courage, of decision and action, 
of a free vote and a fair count, of honesty and honest 
money, of revenue and credit, and last of all because it is 
the Ark of political safety in which all, friend and foe 
alike, feel secure. 

Come then, one and all, regardless of previous affili- 
ations, gather in the fold of the grand old party by whose 
advancing hosts the victory in November is sure to be 
won. 

Vermont opens the campaign and let the gun she 
fires in September be the loudest she ever fired upon 
such an occasion. Let us then place her ahead of any Re- 
publican majority she ever recorded from which leading 
position she can blandly ask her sister states to "keep 
the column closed up. 

On that day Vermont expects every man to do his 
duty. She expects to see the sunlight of protection 
pierce the fog of sickly free coinage vaporings now ob- 
scuring the political sky. Make the vote in September 
such that it will become the most searching search light 
for Republican success ever sent out from the watch tow- 
er of our Green Mountains. The country is resonant 
with the sonnd of victory and all are anxiously waiting 
for the contentment and peace it will bring. Let us then 
go home, go about our work and reap the harvest of a 
victory arising from duty done. 

SPEECH AT BURLINGTON 
OPENING THE CAMPAIGN OF 1896 

Again we are confronted by an election, the result of 
which will be regarded the people's endorsement of a 
national policy for four years to come. 

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MY POLITICAL LIFE 



Every government pretending in any sense to be 
guided by popular expression, occasionally, according to 
some written or unwritten authority, appeals to the 
masses for wisdom by which to regulate its doings. 

Our constitutional periods for doing this occur once 
in four years. 

The policy for which contention is being made in 
this campaign is inferable from the platform tenets held 
by the political parties known as Republican and 
Democratic. 

All other parties in this campaign are side shows. 

The battle will be fought between and the victory won 
by one or the other of these parties and unless you want to 
waste your politics upon the desert air of barren endeav- 
or, enlist under the banner of republicanism or demo- 
cracy and stand by your colors to the finish. 

The nonessential doctrines of these two parties are 
in many respects much in common; the essential doc- 
trines, however, have been and promise to be widely 
divergent. 

The source of our revenue is the tariff, which may 
or may not be a protection to American interests. By in- 
terests I mean industries and business of all kinds, Amer- 
ican in location and character. 

Protection and revenue are the heart and circulation 
of a growing nation and most important to the American 
Nation. 

The tariff then is of dual purpose. Revenue and pro- 
tection being its principal objects. 

The Democratic party regards a tariff for revenue 
only desirable; while the Republican party would raise 
the needed Government revenue under a tariff, so as to 
afford protection to America and all her belongings. 

To a casual observer there may not appear any sub- 



255 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



stantial difference between the tariff positions of the two 
parties, but a study of the subject in the light of experi- 
ence discloses a vast difference. A tariff for revenue 
only, is un-American, unbusinesslike and in the nature 
of an infliction to the country. It is much like Hamlet 
with Hamlet omitted. 

Early in its history, this country, deriving revenue 
through a tariff, was taught the difference between rais- 
ing it with and without protection. 

Its colonial and confederate existence was a pure and 
simple free trade period. Under the Constitution, Wash- 
ington signing the first tariff measure, it realized its first 
season of protection, a period of twenty-seven years. 
Then followed eight years of free trade, and in turn nine 
years of protection, from 1824 to 1833; which gave way 
to free trade until 1842; when protection came once more 
for four years which was followed in 1846, by free trade 
until 1861. From '61 to '93 protection was the continu- 
ous policy of the Government. These facts are given to 
show that our history is replete with instruction in this 
particular and that being informed we ought to avoid fu- 
ture mistakes. 

We have always prospered under the influence of a 
protective tariff and suffered industrially and commer- 
cially under a revenue tariff. Study the history of the 
periods mentioned and keep this fact constantly in mind, 
shaping your political action by it. 

The Republican party has always fostered protection. 
Protection has been one of its cardinal doctrines, and the 
greatest promoter of our growth, and the sheet anchor of 
our national greatness. 

A tariff, based upon the difference between the cost 
of labor in this and foreign countries, means protection 
of great value to labor, capital and all our bus- 

256 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



iness interests. This is the natural and necessary basis 
of an American protective tariff. Anything short of this 
is an unjust discrimination against our rights and oppor- 
tunities and a sacrifice of our prosperity and progress. 

It is a study and a work of no mean import, to prepare 
a tariff, meeting these suggested conditions; a tariff that 
shall be just to ourselves, fair to other countries and sup- 
ply the revenue needs of the Government; but the mas- 
ter mind of Major William McKinley, the soldier states- 
man, patriot citizen, and our party standard bearer, in 
this year of our Lord, 1896; was fully equal to the emer- 
gency in the McKinley tariff. 

He gave us a tariff just, fair, productive and satisfac- 
tory; protecting product and labor; stimulating industry 
and enterprise; sustaining all the demands upon the 
treasury; increasing the volume of foreign trade and in 
all respects a boon to the American people. 

The fullness of these facts goes without saying when 
the object lesson taught by the hybrid democratic tariff 
now in force is considered. 

The present generation did not believe tariff legisla- 
tion could make and unmake prosperity in the twinkle of 
an eye, but having seen, tasted and handled, doubt no 
longer lingers; and all feel a disposition from this on to 
put protection ahead and keep the column closed up. 

It must be remembered that nothing is shyer than 
business and the money upon which it depends; that 
nothing so directly influences these interests as tariff 
menaces; and that a threat is equivalent to an assault. 

It is no longer necessary to tell the man whose bread 
depends upon the sweat of his brow, that changing a cog 
in the gear wheel of our tariff defeats his most willing en- 
deavorto secure that bread, makes him a tramp,his wife a 



257 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



beggar and sends his children to bed hungry, for he real- 
izes the fact. 

Nor is it necessary to tell the producer of farm and 
factory products of the hazard incident to this same cog- 
wheel changing, for he knows it only too well. 

The tramp, the silent factory, the soup house, unre- 
quited toil, general business disaster, a depleted treasury 
and a bond issuing administration; are some of the evil 
consequences incident to a change from a Republican to 
a Democratic administration; from a protective tariff to 
a tariff for revenue only. 

The change clamored for, four years ago, has proven 
a calamity instead of the blessing promised. Tariff tin- 
kering is the cause of our present ills, financial and 
business. 

When the United States of America protects itself 
against inroads of foreign labor found in manufactures 
from foreign factories and products from foreign farms, 
she will again be prosperous, progressive and happy. If 
potatoes are worthless, wool a drug in the market, but- 
ter lower than ever known before, fires in the factories 
drawn, and if those remaining burn low, labor unemploy- 
ed and finances deranged, you may thank the Democrat- 
ic party and a tariff for revenue only. 

What other reasonable cause can be assigned for the 
sad difference between now and then? 

Then business was good, now it is poor. Then labor 
was employed, now it is idle. Then all was prosperity, 
now all is adversity. These unhappy conditions came to 
us through the door that opened to admit the present ad- 
ministration. We were well, health good, never better, 
but in the election of four years ago we took the dose and 
have been deathly sick ever since. How can cause and 
effect be more plainly and forcibly illustrated? 

258 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



Secure new treatment, change the medicine as soon 
as you can or the patient will pass into a hopeless state 
of something worse than "innocuous desuetude." 

President Harrison's last message was statistical 
with data by which you can note the difference between 
protection and free trade, prosperity and depression. 

I am not going to dwell in detail upon the tariff 
changes which have operated to crush business, snatch 
employment from labor and beggar the treasury. If you 
are not persuaded from what you have seen in the last 
four years that these calamities are because of so called 
tariff reform my words will fail to convince. 

In former campaigns the Republican platform speak- 
er pointed out the dangers naturally and necessarily inci- 
dent to proposed democratic tariff changes and a Demo- 
cratic administration of the affairs of government. Such 
warnings fell lightly upon the listening ear, but now be- 
ing illustrated by the bitterest object lesson this country 
has ever known they should be attentively received. 
Sufficient unto the time are the lessons thereof and any 
kind of a change from the existing condition of things 
must be welcome. 

Our home market is important and annually con- 
sumes more than like markets for Great Britain, France, 
Germany and Russia. 

In 1890, our home trade was upward of $50,000,000,000 
and our foreign trade about $1,500,000,000. Our people 
consume more per capita than the people of other coun- 
tries and our domestic market is more valuable to us all 
things considered than the combined markets of the 
world. 

The policy of the Republican party has been and is 
to protect the American market against foreign invasion 
and keep it sacredly for America. The policy of the 

259 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Democratic party has been and is to divide this market 
with the world. Our opposing friends seem wilUng to ex- 
change even handed a 50,000,000,000 dollar home market 
for a 1,500,000,000 dollar foreign market. It is natural 
that foreign countries should seek our market and in a 
trade sense it is equally as natural that we should desire 
to keep them out of it. 

The Democrat reasons that we must buy of foreign 
countries if we would sell them but under protection our 
foreign trade always has been more satisfactory than 
with a tariff for revenue. 

In commercial matters we must take care of our- 
selves first and our neighbors later; and the surest way 
to do this is to sagaciously guard our trade advantages 
and wisely improve our trade opportunities. American 
tariffs from Plymouth Rock to McKinley tell us too plain- 
ly to be mistaken, that protection protects and American 
interests and American Prosperity depend upon it. 

It is important to note that the nation made greater 
growth in the thirty odd years of unbroken protection 
from '61 to '93 than in the 240 years of its previous exist- 
ence with snatches back and forth of protection and free 
trade. Every protection period of the country has been 
prosperous and every free trade period has been 
disastrous. 

A study of these historical facts becomes suggestive. 
ly interesting and instructive. Many say let the tariff 
alone. It is a dead issue and we must now grapple with 
live issues if we would keep up with the procession. 
Since, however, our revenue emanates from the tariff we 
must do something with it or we will soon have borrowed 
ourselves poor to defray the current expenses of the Gov- 
ernment and when we so change it as to sustain the Gov- 
ernment in its running expenses we had better quicken 

260 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



our business, industrial and commercial, by wisely em- 
ploying a little judicious protection where it will do the 
most good. 

FREE COINAGE 

The Democratic party in convention the other day 
adhered to its old platform positions as to tariff; and com- 
mitted its future to free unlimited coinage of silver. 
This was a surprise to the country and a disappointment 
to the better element of the party. If the Democratic 
party succeeds in electing the next President you may ex- 
pect another edition of free trade legislation, state bank- 
ing instead of national, civil service reform ignored, and 
cart loads of cheap money. 

It will be a variety show of rare exhibits and you can 
have almost anything of an uncertain character. If this 
party is continued in power you may expect an aggra- 
vated democratic policy, increased business depression 
and a more sweeping destruction of industrial and com- 
mercial interests. 

This party old in the history of the country 
has unfortunately, always opposed those measures, the 
adoption of which have promoted the nation's develop- 
ment and fortified its honor. While the Republican par- 
ty has happily contended for those conditions upon which 
securely and permanently rest the Republic. The syno- 
nyms of democracy are free trade, wild cat money, slav- 
ery, opposition to the war for the suppression of the 
slave-holder's rebellion; and last but not least for evil, 
free coinage of silver. 

The synonyms of the Republican party are a unified, 
nationalized country, protection for every American in- 
terest and money good the world over. These are bril- 
liant jewels in the crown of party excellence. 

The voter in the coming election should, as he loves 
261 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



his country, determine which of these parties he will 
support. 

Especially if it is his first vote on a national issue he 
should decide which party has kept and now promises to 
keep nearest that line of action best calculated to pro- 
mote and defend public welfare. 

My young friend, as you now make your political 
bed you will be likely in the future to lie; and be sure at 
the onset, that "the bed is " not "shorter than that a man 
can stretch himself upon it," nor "the covering narrower 
than that a man can wrap himself in it." 

Free coinage of silver, as proposed by the Democrat- 
ic party, without an international agreement, instead of 
meaning more money in circulation, as so many claim, 
would mean less, for gold would go into hoarding and hid- 
ing which would throw into desuetude much of the mon- 
ey now in use; and it would also mean a cheap dollar in 
our monetary system which would speedily cheapen ev* 
ery other United States dollar. 

Capital can concentrate, combine with the silver 
mines, and present to the mints for free coinage, silver, 
at 16 to 1, amounting to enough billions to crush the 
credit of any power on earth. 

The volume of our money is about $1,600,000,000, of 
which gold and silver represent upwards $600,000,000 
each. With unlimited coinage what will prevent an in- 
definite increase in the money of the country at the in- 
stance of speculation. What an opportunity for capital 
and the silver mine. Buying at 50 and selling at 100 is a 
profitable deal. Free coinage of silver is open to the ob- 
jection that it invites speculation at Government expense, 
promises national bankruptcy, suggests dishonesty and 
has nothing of a patriotic nature to recommend it. 

It cost the treasury over a million dollars to run the 

262 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



mints in 1893; and will cost more annually if private par- 
ties can order cdnage. Free coinage will prove an ex- 
pensive luxury in more respects than one. As a politi- 
cal ism it has less to recommend it than the green back 
heresy had; and that was soon consigned to an insane re- 
treat from which it has not yet escaped. 

The Chicago convention demands restoration of 
the so called daddy dollar; forgetting that in eighty-four 
years free of coinage only 8,000,000 of them were coin- 
ed; one million only remaining in circulation; something 
over seven million having been purchased abroad. In 
twenty years the Republican party under Government 
restriction coined over 600,000,000 more silver dollars, 
than were coined in the eighty-four years of free unre- 
stricted right. We have all the silver the Government 
can maintain at par with gold; and all our money system 
can safely use; why then should we incur the hazard of 
free coinage? The Government has given the people 
600,000,000 times more silver money than they with an 
unlimited free opportunity would take. What then was 
the matter with the Republican party's plan for the coin- 
age of silver? In the free unlimited coinage "hue and 
cry," do we not see a silver-mining mouse in the meal? 
Gold and silver should be kept equal in volume and val- 
ue in our money system; as nearly as possible they 
should be worked upon an evener. This is the only con- 
sistent plan of bi-metalism. Silver coins are now a few 
million in excess of gold and a safe financial judgment is 
that we cannot increase them without an international 
standard by which they may pass without discount the 
world over, unless we are prepared to become a silver 
country like Mexico. 

If free coinage should advance silver to a par value 
with gold, as its advocates claim, and speculation cease 

263 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



to be an inducement for its coinage, the people would 
have no more desire for silver dollars than they had dur- 
ing the 84 years ending in 1873. 

Make the silver dollar honest and clamor for it 
ceases. No silver dollar can be honest until it has the 
equal market value of a gold dollar. Silver is not desir- 
able for circulation. It is too heavy and abraids too ea- 
sily. Eliminate speculation from the subject and free un- 
limited coinage of silver is a thing of the past. 

The interest of the silver mine and the power of cap- 
ital are its chief promoters. The common citizen doesn't 
care; but is inclined to the notion that the rich man op- 
poses and so he might as well favor. 

This is a mistaken idea, a cheap dollar is the rich 
man's opportunity and the poor man's contribution. 

Somehow, some way, make all the Government dol- 
lars equal; or some one, somehow, some way, some time 
must pay the difference. 

In great ados about nothing it is safe to study the 
make points for they generally indicate the source of the 
stir. 

With more money than any other power on earth, 
and more per capita than other nations; and paper the fa- 
vorite for circulation, with elasticity to suit the needs of 
business, it is not easy to see any reason for free coinage. 
Free coiners may lift the silver market up to that of gold, 
but instead you better expect it will be borne down with 
a heavy discount. 

With unlimited coinage of silver, under existing con- 
ditions, the concensus of business and the better finan- 
cial opinion is, that the country would soon be in sack- 
cloth and ashes; and no one would suffer more than the 
poor man. If anyone in the country is benefited by 



264 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



sound money it is the wage-earner, the man who depends 
on the success of business for his daily bread. 

THE STATE 

In State matters the Republican party, desiring to be 
suitably modest, promises an economical administration; 
with every interest of our great-little State securely guard- 
ed and faithfully served. 

Let the intelligence of Vermonters regardless of pre- 
vious party affiliations rally around the Republican stand- 
ard in the September election, not so much to give that 
party a glorious victory which it and its principles so 
richly deserve, as to emphasize a national determination 
to stand before the world committed to industrial prog- 
ress and financial honesty. 

Let every Vermonter desiring secure business, sound 
money and prosperity join in so saying at the polls. 

AN AFTER ELECTION ECHO 

After the election a friend in Chicago composed the 
following verse, sending the same with his congratu- 
lations. 

Did you hear a soothing sound from New England's classic ground, 
A sweet and gentle echo from the mountains of Vermont? 
Did you hear somebody shout, we've elected Governor Grout 
By a vote so near unanimous that we didn't need to count? 

Chorus 

Did you hear a gentle echo 
From the old Green Mountain state; 
Did you hear the breezes murmur, 
"Wc gave forty thousand straight?" 



265 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



INCOMING MESSAGE 
OCTOBER SESSION, 1896 

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: — 

Elected and sworn to be Governor of the State, I 
humbly enter upon the duties of the office, impressed 
with the importance of the trust. 

In so doing I would gratefully and appreciatingly ac- 
knowledge the honor conferred, craving the kind for- 
bearance of all. 

Good government depends upon wise laws faithfully 
executed. 

We are assembled in regular biennial session to as- 
sist each other in encouraging such government in Ver- 
mont and under Divine guidance let us enter upon the 
work of such an undertaking. 

UNITED STATES SENATOR 

Among your duties will be the election of a United 
States Senator for the term of six years from the fourth 
day of March next, to succeed the Hon. Justin S. Morrill. 

FINANCES 

This is probably the most interesting subject, all in 
all, you will consider, and from time immemorial has 
been instinctively accorded first position among the mes- 
sage topics of my honored predecessors. 

Receipts, disbursements, resources and liabilities are 
words suggesting the ins, outs, reliability and emergency 
of the exchequer. 

They are the ways and means language of public 
financiering; four words in the Treasurer's report, to 
which your most careful attention is directed, standing 
for revenue, appropriations, dependence and credit. 

266 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



The money supply now occupying so much thought 
invites an equally earnest consideration of its use, where- 
in lies its value. 

In raising and appropriating public monies be just 
and prudent; avoid both extravagance and parsimony; 
keep the resources secure and the credit firm. 

TAXATION 

Our revenue flows into the treasury from various 
sources and out in various ways. Instead of presenting 
to you a statement from the Treasurer's report, showing 
its different features, it seems better that you each exam- 
ine it for yourselves. It is brief and able, rendering 
clearer the particular workings of the treasury, than any 
abridgment of it I can furnish you. 

From the resources and liabilities given, you will be 
able to determine the state tax, additional to the other 
taxes, necessary to defray the expenses of the State the 
ensuing biennial term. 

This tax should not be larger than was assessed in 
1894, assuming list to be nearly or quite the same, and 
if upon readjustment, corporation taxes should be in- 
creased and special appropriations are kept at the mini- 
mum, so that ordinary expenses can be the expectation, 
a smaller tax will suffice. This calculation encounters 
the proverbial IF. It depends upon the work of the ses- 
sion and before we reach the state tax question you will 
know by your own conduct how large it should be. 

CORPORATION TAXES AND TAX COMMISSIONER'S REPORT 

Thirteen annual taxes have been collected under the 
corporation tax law; the first in 1883, amounting to 
$196,678.51 and the last in 1895, amounting to $376,723.04. 
The tax for the last biennial period was $734,582.81, be- 

267 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ing $42,351.62 more than for the preceding biennial peri- 
od. These taxes show a uniform increase, are cheerfully 
paid and are important to the State. They should be so 
assessed and collected as to deal justly by the corpora- 
tions paying them and at the same time so as to realize 
for the State in proportion to the protection afforded. 
An inquiry into the equality of assessment is suggested 
as a proper investigation. 

The assessment and collection of the corporation tax- 
es, constituting nearly 75 per cent of the State's revenue, 
is a very important official duty. The faithfulness With 
which the work is done signifies much to the treasury. 
Your attention is directed to the Commissioners report 
for the information it affords concerning this source of 
income. 

THE FIVE PER CENT STATE TAXES 

These taxes are equalizers of the school and high- 
way burdens in the different towns of the State. They 
are drafts upon the stronger in favor of the weaker. 
Steps in the direction of true democracy calculated to 
strengthen our education and improve our roads. 

This plan for upbuilding the State, always accept- 
able to the poorer, is generally agreeable to the wealthier 
towns, for they well know any excess they pay, inures to 
the benefit of the State as a whole. All, believing in Ver- 
mont, recognize that doing it to the least is doing it to 
the greatest, and so welcome the 5 per cent State taxes. 
Whether this step in the right direction should be length- 
ened is a question for you to decide. Road improvement 
can profitably use more money and incorporated school 
districts are reminders that the poorer communities have 
a right to equality in school burdens. 



268 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



DOUBLE TAXATION 

The public burdens should be borne by all equally, 
according to what each taxpayer is worth, yet the grand 
list upon which taxes are extended does not rest upon 
such an equitable foundation; until it does there will be 
uneasiness among the people. The taxpayer who owes 
more than the appraisal of his personal estate, as the law 
now stands, pays taxes on his debts or on more than he 
is worth. Offsets against personal property in making 
the grand list are an acknowledgement that taxes should 
be paid upon the basis of solvent worth. To illustrate: 
the debts of A are the credits of B, and B should pay 
taxes on these credits unless he is in turn a debtor. If A 
cannot offset his debts against his property appraisals he 
pays taxes on more than he is worth. B may hold cred- 
its secured on A's farm the full appraisal of which goes 
into A's list. In this case the value for which the credit 
was given and the credit are both taxed. 

B should pay taxes on the credit, for A pays him in- 
terest with which to do it, but A should not pay taxes on 
the value part of the farm covered by the credit, because 
he pays interest to B and owes for it besides. 

It is conceded that this feature of our tax system is 
wrong and that the parties burdened by it are entitled to 
relief. The indirect remedies heretofore proposed are at 
the best theoretical. Some of them have been suspected 
of making a bad matter worse. Remember, it is the 
debtor that should be relieved. If farm mortgage in- 
debtedness wherever held were taxed against the mort- 
gagee, the tax paid by the mortgagor and deducted by 
him in settling with the mortgagee and the mortgagor 
allowed offset against his real estate appraisal, the land 
values of the State would pay taxes once and the pay- 
ment would be by the right parties. Each, mortgagor 

269 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



and mortg^agee, would then pay on what they respective- 
ly held in the property. This would by short cut ac- 
complish the desired relief, without changing materially, 
if in the least, the volume of the Grand List of the State, 
It is to be hoped you will give this subject your ear- 
nest attention and unless satisfied it is a wrong without 
a remedy, provide necessary legislation. 

STATE EXPENSES 

Next in importance to income are expenditures. 

A contented treasury must receive more than it 
disburses. 

The income should be sufficient to meet the proper 
needs of the State. In representing the wishes of the 
people, you will be safe in avoiding new ways of expense 
and providing for existing ways with reasonable 
economy. 

The biennial term just closed records an expense of 
$1,140,097.56, being the largest in our history. The pre- 
ceding term cost $920,397.48 and the term preceding that 
cost $1,031,710.92. 

These are large biennial expenditures. They should 
be decreased rather than increased. The expenses of 
the State have gradually augmented during the last 
twenty-five years; so have our public gratuities and in- 
stitutions. The increase of expenses I apprehend has 
been principally occasioned by the creation and main- 
tenance of the multiplied institutions. 

The Reform School, the House of Correction, the 
Soldiers' Home, the Waterbury Asylum, the Fish Hatch- 
ery, the State Board of Health, the Normal Schools, dona- 
tions to the colleges, the Experiment Station, the Rail- 
road Commission, the Grand Isle County Bridges, and 
the Gettysburg Monument are reminders, in part, of the 

270 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



consideration for which the people have exchanged their 
money. 

To denominate such expenditures extravagance is a 
misnomer. The state has value received and in most, if 
not all instances, the investments were wise, patriotic, in 
the interest of better government and of humanity. 

The money was in large part for higher improve- 
ments, which mark our progress and adorn our better 
civilization. 

Without prejudice to the past or allowing it to influ- 
ence the present, let us discriminately consider the vari- 
ous expenses of the state and according to the times, fear- 
lessly and fairly adjust each item. 

Previous to 1880, our state tax averaged about 63 
cents for the biennial term and since it has averaged 
about 14 cents. The direct tax burdens to the people 
have not increased and while we have expended more 
money it has been for what we needed. 

STATE auditor's REPORT 

The State Auditor's concise and able report is an in- 
structive bill of particulars, showing where and for what, 
the public money is used. It is not convenient in a mes- 
sage, to mention in detail, the various items accruing, for 
instance, under the head of court expenses, salaries and 
the numerous other classes of expense; and the Audi- 
tor's report showing plainly what you ought to know up- 
on this subject, fortunately, renders such a mention un- 
necessary. I respectfully refer you to it, urging upon 
your attention the business it presents, a study of which 
will assist in reaching an intelligent, economical action 
upon measures inviting money from the treasury. Your 
attention is especially directed to court expenses, which 
it is claimed, have increased without apparent reason. 

271 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The fees paid by the state in state cases for the biennial 
period just closed amounted to $4,643 and for defending 
respondents $9,826. A limitation placed upon these fees 
might do justice and make a saving. 

Expenditures of all kinds are quite in your hands, 
yet you can depend upon my hearty co-operation in any 
efforts you make to keep the money-flow from the treas- 
ury at "neap tide." 

Special appropriations should indeed be very special 
to receive your sanction. 

Small appropriations, incidental to state institutions 
and necessary to their preservation or more economical 
management, will be expected. 

WE are committed to care for our own and an eco- 
nomical provision of a businesslike character, for all 
state institutions, is an evident duty. 

In considering retrenchment ascertain, in the inter- 
est of the public welfare, what we can do without and 
then do without all such things. Apply the same econo- 
my to public, as acting prudently, you would in private 
life to your own affairs, and the state will be conserved 
to the best of your ability. 

ROADS AND THE STATE ROAD COMMISSION 

Good roads are an index of civilization and poor 
roads are a heavy tax upon any community, A general 
interest in road improvement exists throughout the 
states. Early in our history national appropriations 
were made for interstate turnpikes, then came railroad 
building, absorbing all thought concerning traveled 
ways, and now we are returning to first principles in 
which the better road figures conspicuously. 

Vermont is interested in all her roads alike, and en- 
couraged by the progress made it is hoped she will ex- 

272 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



tend the system of permanent road improvement already 
so successfully begun. The 5 per cent state tax and any 
enlargement of it should be exclusively expended in aid 
of this system. Successful road improvement has been 
accomplished in other states through individual contribu- 
tion from the locality to be directly benefited. 

A measure authorizing competitive subscriptions 
from neighborhoods asking the state tax and awarding 
the tax to the locality offering the largest local contribu- 
tion would carry out this thought and would materially 
aid in realizing the object sought. 

Expensive road building should be avoided and the 
minimum, not the maximum cost of a good road should 
be the guide in carrying out the reform. 

Probably no one thing will attract temporary and 
permanent dwellers to the state more than good roads. 

If the policy of permanent improvement is continued 
by means of state funds there should be a state supervis- 
ion of their expenditure and perhaps this cannot be pro- 
vided for any better than to make a permanent State 
Road Commission, giving it more voice in determining 
the character and location of the reform. Regarding 
this subject nearer than almost any other to the material 
prosperity of the state it is consigned to your care. 

RAILROADS AND RAILROAD COMMISSION 

For full particulars showing the condition, business 
and management of the railroads of the state, reference 
should be made to the able report of the Railroad Com- 
missioners, where a full account is given of the different 
systems within the jurisdiction of the state. 

The Railroad Commission, born of a right to super- 
vise the doings of railroads, is now ten years old. Its 
powers are said to be too limited. It is old enough to 

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



speak through its record for itself. If it can be strength- 
ened to render the people any better service than they 
now receive let it be so strengthened. Let it be made 
complete in all respects for doing in a fair, just way to 
all concerned the most good. You will give this subject 
your attention and consider whether the railroads should 
not pay a portion of the expense of the commission. 

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 

This Board is rendering faithful service along the 
different lines of work it conducts, and doing much good 
in various ways. Its meetings held in all parts of the 
state supply food for thought, awaken interest and quick- 
en endeavor among the farmers. It is a state institution 
that goes about doing good. It has rendered an important 
service in furnishing statistical information to sellers 
and buyers of farms and summer tourists. 

TUBERCULOSIS 

This dread disease among stock has created a deep 
interest and incurred not a little expense. The mystery 
of the disease and uncertainty of its treatment dwell so 
much in the unknown that more than ordinary interest 
has centered in the methods employed to eradicate it. 

The tests made upon which slaughters have been 
based are as convincing as experimental work can be 
and undoubtedly point the way to extermination as clear- 
ly as present knowledge upon the subject is able to. 

After examinations have covered the state and 
should they not do so as soon as possible, whether in- 
vited or not, a more definite account of presence, prog- 
ress and control of the disease can be kept. If the pres- 
ent work is in the right direction let it proceed until re- 

274 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



duced to a system by which an accurate estimate can be 
made of what is being accomplished. The compensation 
for slaughters is perhaps as just as can be devised in 
such cases. The disease exposed by slaughters, in every 
instance, so far as reported, whatever it may be, is some- 
thing common consent pronounces incompatible with 
healthy animals and healthy food. 

This subject invites your attention that the public 
and the individual may be better satisfied with and feel 
more secure in what is being done. The slaughters dur- 
ing the last biennial period cost the state $20,000. 

STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 

The work of this Board should not be overlooked 
nor its needs neglected. That its report will be consult- 
ed and the importance of its duties appreciated is the 
common desire of an interested people. 



SOLDIERS HOME 

This institution, true to its name, is a home for the 
indigent veteran of the war. It is filled, the greater part 
of the time, with those who shared the dangers, endured 
the hardships of that gigantic struggle and have grown 
old, feeble and poor. The generosity of a grateful people 
in 1884, determined at whatever cost the brave preserv- 
ers of the Union, being needy, should have an alternative 
between a home and the poor house. This determina- 
tion stands upon the records of state legislation, a monu- 
ment of patriotic gratitude, to the soldiers of that war, 
whether dead or living, rich or poor. I need not suggest 
that you consider the needs of this institution in the 
same spirit that has always characterized Vermont's 
bearing towards the old soldier. 

275 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 

This institution, in reality a school, such a blessing 
to so many boys and girls, benefits the state in more 
ways than at a glance appear. It restrains youthful 
wanderings, and fits for men and women the wanderers. 
It discharges its inmates higher in the scale of being 
than it receives them. Its purpose and management are 
to be commended. Your attention is directed to the re- 
port of the trustees and the recommendations therein 
contained as to the needs of the school. 

STATE PRISON 

This institution having changed the contract for its 
labor and provided new machinery incident to the 
change, expects hereafter to be self-sustaining, a desir- 
able condition for a penal institution to enjoy, calling for 
congratulations to state and management. 

A small farm utilizing a certain class of the prison 
labor and a keeper's dwelling should be added to the 
property of this institution. Such additions would save 
the state more than the interest on their cost. 

HOUSE OF CORRECTION 

The much needed improvements having been accom- 
plished within the appropriation authorizing them; this 
institution is now a credit to the state. 

Short terms of imprisonment prevent as profitable 
employment of its labor as might be made under longer 
terms. The earnings, however, compare favorably with 
similar institutions in other states. 

The return by the directors of about $4000, the un- 
expended portion of the appropriation of 1894, is a wel- 
come surprise to the treasury. 

276 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



PRISON REFORM 

The criminals of a penal institution should be class- 
ified according to previous life, offence committed and 
general character of the individual; which suggests put- 
ting prison life under reformatory discipline, so that the 
inmate will be a better person at discharge than at com- 
mitment. The principle being that the state has the 
criminal in charge simply to secure the public against 
his vicious tendencies while he is being punished, and 
not to hinder in any way the development of his better 
nature and growth in manhood; and in a broader sense 
that he should, while restrained, be subjected to moral in- 
fluences so that he will be nearer to if not absolutely in 
a better life when entitled to his liberty. Vermont has 
hardly kept pace with the other states in legislation look* 
ing to a return of those who have erred to the paths of 
good citizenship. 

If a move should be made in this direction I am sure 
I need not bespeak at your hands its careful consid* 
e ration. 

THE ASYLUM 

The Waterbury Asylum is the most important of 
our state institutions. In design and completion it is a 
model. Humanely and economically administered it is a 
credit to the state. It has cost about $350,000, and being 
exclusively under state control will accomplish an inter- 
esting saving in the care of our insane poor. 

Under the Poland pauper law the expense of this un- 
fortunate class became a state burden instead of a sub- 
divided one among the several towns. 

This centralization of the burden tends to an equali- 
zation of it and is without objection unless it multiplies 
the number of patients. 

277 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The records at Waterbury casually observed do not 
show such a tendency. With it in view to protect the 
Asylum against such possible imposition, I recommend 
that yon investigate this subject and act according to the 
information your investigation affords. The inmates can 
be more humanely cared for at this institution with less 
expense and greater security to society than by the 
towns. 

It is somewhat in the nature of a common cause to 
provide for the insane poor, which the state is as much 
interested in as the town. Patients whose condition still 
invites treatment and those beyond the reach of such a 
benefit should remain in the asylum, the former class 
that they may be cured and the latter that the close of 
an unfortunate life may be made as comfortable as pos- 
sible. The insane poor of the state should be cared for 
at the asylum. 

SAVINGS BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES 

These institutions are reported in good condition. 
Deposit withdrawals have increased of late under the 
menace to financial security occasioned by political dis- 
cussion. Trusting the prayer of the people will be an- 
swered soon, this disturbance is not expected to last long. 

THE PROHIBITORY LAW 

For nearly half a century prohibition has been an 
omnipresent theme with the people of Vermont and a 
study of temperance has become a feature of our educa- 
tional system. It has stood and stands a bulwark be- 
tween brutality and home, order and riot, the better and 
the worse in all things. The prohibitory law has occu- 
pied a conspicuous place upon our statutes and signally 
aided the cause of temperance. 

278 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 

■ I Tl -- - -" ~- ~T 1 ■ !! I l l I ' 



It has not exterminated from our society all disposi- 
tion to violate its provisions nor does any law destroy 
the germ of transgression, but it has to a very satisfac- 
tory extent restrained the offender, making rum selling 
unprofitable and a reproach. Violations are the excep- 
tion and confined mostly to the larger places. 

The general temperance of our people is superior to 
that of any sister state. Our prohibitory law insures a 
better home for the laboring man and his family here in 
Vermont than in any other community of its size on the 
face of the earth. 

We have reason to congratulate ourselves upon 
many things but upon no one thing more than the char- 
acter which has become a part of our life since prohibi- 
tion has guarded the avenues of our society. 

With these and other considerations in full view we 
are confronted by the usual biennial inquiry, shall the 
prohibitory law make way for high license, or shall the 
law be more carefully enforced? Among the things 
clear to judgment and conscience is the demand for a 
more careful, diUgent, day and night, everywhere pres- 
ent enforcement of the law. 

Such attention should be given the subject as to ren- 
der it very inconvenient if not impossible to indulge in 
violation. 

Law, however good, not enforced, becomes bad, and 
soon imparts its character to the people enacting it. 
The wisdom of the fathers, traceable in our society and 
our institutions, urges earnest enforcement of all our 
laws. 

Public sentiment in many localities regards the en- 
forcement of the prohibitory law differently from the en- 
forcement of other law and in my opinion you should 



279 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



provide better pay to the officers called upon to enforce 
it. 

Provide in such way as commends itself to your dis- 
cretion a better enforcement of this law or public expec- 
tation will be disappointed. 

Salary the municipal trier and compensate the pros- 
ecuting officer according to the fruits of his labor. If 
prosecuting officers were paid special fees, under a well- 
regulated system, in cases arising under the prohibitory 
law, the county courts approving semi-annually their ac- 
counts, better enforcement might follow. 

Officers cannot nurse crime in Vermont for the fees 
derivable from prosecuting it unless the people are will- 
ing. Interest the prosecuting officer and make it an ob- 
ject for him to do his work, if you would be sure of the 
best service. Pursuing and punishing crime as a work 
of love cannot always be relied upon. 

EDUCATION 

The strength of our state is in the character of our 
people, which is determined by our education. The 
school is the moulding process in which the common 
mindisformed. The best school is none too good. The dis- 
trict school, having outlived its early usefulness, of 
which we have reason to be proud, entered a transition 
process, resulting in the present town system, with 
which some are yet dissatisfied. The dissatisfaction 
with the district system arose from natural causes, and 
were a return made to that system the same dissatisfac- 
tion would recur. The reasons for the success of the 
system are no longer a part of our life and we must use 
some new plan for conducting our schools. Originally 
opposed to town schools, yet remembering the disadvan- 
tages of the old district and intermediate systems, I be- 

280 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



lieve the existing law as good as any change would af- 
ford. It should be borne in mind, though, that the incor- 
porated districts prevent in towns where they exist a fair 
application of the town system. If concessions could be 
arranged to obviate these complaints contentment might 
be expected. 

COLLEGES 

The colleges are successfully pursuing their lines of 
work. The University at Burlington reports a prosper- 
ous condition and so does the College at Middlebury. 
Norwich University is progressive. Its increasing at- 
tendance speaks well for its discipline and the profi- 
ciency of its work. The Agricultural College and Exper- 
iment Station are conducting a work in which the agri- 
cultural classes are becoming more and more interested. 

NORMAL SCHOOLS 

These schools in the report of the Commission ap- 
pointed by joint resolution, number 346, General Assem- 
bly, 1894, are presented to your consideration for such 
action as in your judgment suits the facts. 

The people wish every school in the state well and 
implicitly trust to your wisdom, as their representatives, 
in so disposing of this important question as to not im- 
pair the usefulness of our educational system and to so 
bestow or withhold their money in the premises as to ac- 
complish in the interest of education the most good for 
the greatest number. 

FISH AND GAME 

Your attention is directed to the report of the Fish 
and Game Commissioner and Superintendent of the 
Hatchery. It appears that the state has an interesting 

281 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



property in this line costing already quite a little money, 
and promising to cost more. The fish and game of Ver- 
mont properly protected constitute a property of general 
value to the people. These interests should be fostered. 
For a knowledge of the needs in this direction see 
the recommendations and estimates in the reports refer- 
red to. 

UNIFORMITY OF LAWS 

Hon. Alfred A. Hall of St. Albans, appointed by my 
predecessor Commissioner upon the Uniformity of Laws, 
has reported his doings pursuant to such an appoint- 
ment. His commission having expired, if further work 
in this direction is desired your action in the matter will 
be necessary. Uniformity in the laws of the several 
states as more particularly pointed out in the Commis- 
sioner's report is undoubtedly desirable and can be com- 
pleted now with as little expense as any other time. 

FIRE MARSHAL 

It is requested that an office be created to discover 
the origin of fires consuming property covered by insur- 
ance. Such detective officer would supply a need in 
which the people and the insurance companies are mutu- 
ally interested. His work should lessen the moral haz- 
ard of fire insurance risks and accomplish a saving to 
the companies and a lower rate to the policy holders. 
Whether it would do this or not, it has the moral recom- 
mend of being a proper move to expose and punish a 
crime somewhat common. A measure creating such an 
office, the expense to be borne equally or in such propor- 
tion as you might consider just by the insurance com- 
panies and the state, would receive my approval. 

282 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



ATTORNEY GENERAL 

It is a very general opinion that the office of an At- 
torney General would aid the administration of the 
state's affairs and accomplish an annual saving to the 
Treasury. I recommend that you inquire into the cost 
to the state of counsel in prosecuting state cases and do- 
ing other state business for the purpose of determining 
whether such an office cannot be wisely authorized. If 
such an office can be created within the cost of what is 
now paid by the state for legal services, I recommend 
the proposition to your favorable consideration. 

COMMISSION 

Commissions or boards are frequently created de- 
signed to assist the service in special ways which gener- 
ally cost much more than expected. 

When authorized they should be carefully limited as 
to expense to the state, so that thousands of dollars are 
not entailed unawares upon the public expenditures 
where hundreds are contemplated. Too much care can- 
not be exercised in this direction. 

NATIONAL GUARD 

Our militia consists of twelve companies and a bat- 
tery of four pieces. Its discipline and efficiency are com- 
mendable. 

Though the guard is not large, yet military organi- 
zations being expensive, it is all in these times the state 
can afford. The officers and men make a very consider- 
able sacrifice in time and money in affording us what we 
have in this respect. What they receive does not make 
them whole, so the people should thank them for the pa- 
triotism and public spirit they contribute towards the 
military establishment of the state. 

283 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The permanent camp ground near Fort Ethan Allen 
when completed should accomplish a saving in the cur- 
rent expenses of the militia and prove conducive to the 
better equipment of the organization. 

SPECIAL RECOMMENDATIONS 

Believing the Waterbury Asylum sufficient to ac- 
commodate all our insane poor and that the trustees and 
physicians of the institution can properly supervise its 
administration, I recommend a repeal of the law authori- 
zing commitments to the Brattleboro Retreat and that 
you abolish the Board of Supervisors for the Insane. 

The pay of the state boards varies from three to 
eight dollars a day and I recommend that you consider 
this subject with a view to establish a more uniform com- 
pensation, according to the importance of each board 
and the service rendered by them respectively. 

I recommend that the law authorizing the appoint- 
ment of Railroad Commissioners be amended and the of- 
ficial term of the members of the commission made to ex- 
pire so that one only will retire from office each biennial 
period. 

VERMONT 

Vermont first, after the historic thirteen, would have 
been one of a more historic fourteen if the sturdy inde- 
pendence and Puritan patriotism of her early manhood 
had been properly recognized. 

Her sisterhood in the family of states has been har- 
monious and progressive. By common consent, she oc- 
cupies a position in the honored galaxy constantly in 
sight. This prominence is the pride of our people. The 
assembled wisdom and virtue has always faithfully 
guarded our honor and inspired our progress. May the 
legislature of 1896 promote this excellence, so bravely 

284 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



given by the fathers and jealously fostered by inter- 
vening generations. May our associated faithfulness 
and prayerful endeavor hand unimpaired to our succes- 
sors this expectation of continuing honor. 

CONCLUSION 

If Thanksgiving adjourns your deliberations, 
in an even forty days you will conclude your labors; 
deduct for an adjournment to vote the presidential 
ticket and thirty-six or seven working days are the pos- 
sible length of the session. 

When in the exercise of a constitutional prerogative, 
to outline the business of the session, I have, consulting 
brevity and abridgement, felt compelled to present thirty 
or more different subjects, each one of which may have 
as many or more ramifications, and that you too may 
have many business matters to offer, I am reminded that 
the session is short. 

When, too, judging by former sessions, I recall the 
occasional adjournments suggesting a probable ten or 
twelve days during the session and that your respective 
bodies will patiently entertain and pass upon the many 
corporation measures, the subject matter of which can 
as well for all concerned be incorporated under the stat- 
utes, I am still more forcibly admonished of the short- 
ness of time in which to do so much. 

When also it appears that it costs the state fully 
twelve hundred dollars for every working day, three hun- 
dred dollars for every hour and five dollars for every 
minute, I am sensible of the value of our time. 

Therefore I would earnestly recommend: 

1st. That all bills be introduced on or before the 
twenty-fifth day of the session and that such day be de- 
termined early by resolution, after which no new busi- 
ness can be offered. 

285 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



2nd. That your respective bodies refuse to enter- 
tain any corporation measure the subject matter of 
which can be incorporated under the statutes. 

3rd. That you keep adjournments at the mini- 
mum and make them all depend upon some common ne- 
cessity, bearing in mind that every day of unnecessary 
adjournment is equivalent to a useless appropriation of 
twelve hundred dollars from the treasury. 

4th. That you begin now, not delay till the closing 
days of the session, to prepare the business to be consid- 
ered, so that a better system will attend and assist your 
labors. 

The constitution wisely requires the executive 
branch to prepare and present at the opening of the ses- 
sion its business suggestions, and the legislative branch 
will find it of great economic advantage to follow the 
spirit of this requirement so far as practicable in its 
work. 

These recommendations observed and the business 
of the session is under better system, will receive more 
careful attention, resulting in more mature enactments 
and last but not least the rush incident to the last days 
of the session and especially the jostling confusion of the 
last night during the weary hours of which the most im- 
portant measures are frequently considered will be hap- 
pily avoided. 

Impressed with the sense that the time of the session 
cannot be too carefully accounted for to the state and 
that our good name for accurate laws cannot be too sa- 
credly guarded, I urge as your present help, the same 
patriotic purity of purpose and wise discrimination that 
has from the foundation of our government so kindly led 
our people. 

JOSIAH GROUT. 

286 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



REMARKS 

Along the line of the foregoing incoming message, I 
gave the State an administration, at the close of which, 
in a retiring message, I made a report and offered recom- 
mendations, the purposes of which have very generally 
been incorporated into the laws and practices of the State, 

When I took the oath of office, I saw only through a 
glass; but when I retired from office I knew and could 
speak accordingly. Read then the different features of the 
following message, if you care to know the welfare sug- 
gestions it contains relating to the different institutions, 
concerns and interests of the State. 

A glance at this outgoing message shows the com- 
prehensive mention given finances, expenses, taxation, 
revenue, education, penal institutions, prison reform, in- 
sane retreats, State beneficiaries, national guard, tuber- 
culin test, corporation legislation, the caucus, an attorney 
general, State House improvements, highway construc- 
tion and an executive office at the Capitol. Some of 
these subjects were original with my administration, 
have been accepted and are desirable improvements. 

These remarks are not to boast, but to tell how it 
was, how it is, and how it happened. Were I to shout 
about any one thing of them all, however, it would be 
the primary election law, which came about by hard 
knocks and heavy lifts, but, thanks, came to stay; and is 
one of the greatest political blessings that ever befell the 
State of Vermont; it is purely democratic in character 
and is well calculated in practice to do away with the 
caucus autocrat, the caucus tiger; and all kindred politi- 
cal contemptibleness. 

I had the honor in 1904, when in the House at Mont- 
pelier, the last time, to supplement the caucus recom- 

287 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



mendations of both messages, by introducing House Bill 
No. 1 which was a comprehensive, complete measure, 
fully covering the whole primary subject; but the politi- 
cal autocrats threw it down. This bill was the first of 
the kind ever introduced for legislative consideration in 
Vermont. Similar bills were introduced and pressed, 
each succeeding session, by others friendly to the cause 
until the present law was enacted. So, knowing person- 
ally the tricks and pranks of its delay, the hard knocks 
and heavy lifts of the steps and stages of its progress; 
and the clarifying influence of its application, I am led,in 
the sere and yellow to exclaim. Behold the primary elec- 
tion and the political autocrat of Vermont, the one grind- 
ing exceeding fine and the other forever dethroned. 
May his practice never recur! Then for the "nunc pro- 
tune" of many things relating to Vermont and her many 
institutions read the following retiring message, sound- 
ing the echoes. 1896-1898. 

I have many friends who think they are opposed to 
the primary law; and answering their fancied objections 
will say that party fusion in primary nominations can be 
as well avoided as in elections. Such mix-ups occasion- 
ally occur; but they are not so much in evidence under 
the primary law as they were under the caucus system. 

RETIRING MESSAGE 
OCTOBER SESSION, 1898 

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: — 
About to vacate the office of Governor, I take this op- 
portunity to submit a retiring message. 

Under our constitution and laws the Governor has 
little absolute power over matters of government, and 
you will not be advised so much of what he has done 
during the administration drawing to a close, as of what 

288 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



he has seen done by the official establishment of the 
State. 

In directing your attention to such affairs of admin- 
istration as seem to deserve notice, a few suggestions in- 
tended for the public good are submitted. 

FINANCES AND STATE EXPENSES 

These, the most interesting features, in a sense, of 
the State government, are fully set forth by the reports 
of the Treasurer and Auditor, from which you can learn 
the round number sum of money used by the State for 
all public purposes, as well as the ordinary expenses of 
each year. The average from year to year is about the 
same. These public monies are expended to sustain the 
State government, its schools and colleges, roads, State 
institutions, such public improvements as legislative wis- 
dom authorizes; to care for the insane poor, and to do 
whatever things ought to be done. The affairs of the 
Commonwealth, so far as known, are economically ad- 
ministered, and if expenses seem large you should ascer- 
tain if they are not to promote the general progress of 
the State, and if they do not in some way contribute to 
its material prosperity. More money is used today in a 
public way than a generation since, but correspondingly 
more enjoyment is afforded the people. The burdens of 
government are as light in our State as in any other in 
the Union, and very much less than in many; and if any 
share the feeling that we are progressing too rapidly and 
enjoying more than we can afford, or that we are too 
great a departure from the economy of the fathers, they 
may be comforted by knowing that the direct tax upon 
the people, for what we have of a public character, is less 
than in those times with which the present is compared. 
It would take too much of your time to show here how 

289 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



every dollar is disposed of, and it would be scarcely prof- 
itable to do so since the reports of the officials entrusted 
with the disbursement of the State funds are readily ac- 
cessible and furnish every possible detail of expenditure. 

DOUBLE TAXATION AND REVENUE 

Revenue should have a basis of levy the justness of 
which depends upon equality, which means that every 
citizen should pay taxes on all his property, thus equably 
supporting the government that protects all alike. 

The ado about double taxation arises from an in- 
equality in this basis growing out of the fact that a por- 
tion of the debtor class is taxed on more property than it 
is worth; a man's worth being the net of his possessions 
after deducting what he owes. And this is because this 
class is not allowed to offset debts against real estate. 

The exact point of claim in this matter is between 
the mortgagor and mortgagee of real estate. The mort- 
gagor, in whose name the real estate stands, pays the 
taxes on its appraised value, while he may have indebted- 
ness over and above his personal property appraisal, 
which if applied against his real estate would reduce his 
taxable list. This is not paying twice, but rather paying 
on what a man does not own, for his property, real and 
personal alike, in a sense belongs to his creditors until 
his debts are paid. 

The mortgagee presumably pays on the notes, which 
are distinct assets from the realty, and so one tax only is 
paid by him. 

The real plea in this matter is in behalf of that por- 
tion of the debtor class who hold real estate, and they 
would be relieved from this injustice if an offset against 
real estate were allowed. This class could also be re- 
lieved and the real estate values taxed in the State by 

290 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



taxing the mortgage notes in the town where the real es- 
tate is located, allowing the mortgagor to pay the tax 
and deduct it from the interest, and also allowing him to 
offset his debts against his real estate. This plan would 
save the grand list of the State from change, while a sim- 
ple offset against real estate would no doubt materially 
change the list; but it would be a direct remedy. 

Allowing the mortgagor to pay and deduct as sug- 
gested would tend to change money from towns paying 
heavy taxes to those less heavily burdened, but this could 
be practically avoided by fixing the tax on such notes in 
all the towns alike and at the average for the State. 

These plans are opposed by the money lender, and 
his idea of relief is to exempt his notes, bearing a low 
rate of interest, from taxation. There is a ready objec- 
tion to this in the fact that such a rule imposes a corre- 
spondingly heavier burden upon the taxpaying property, 
and the debt burdened taxpayer helps carry it. There- 
fore, do not exempt from taxes for such reasons. 

This case is thus fully stated because it has been so 
much mooted, and upon such mistaken ground. This, 
therefore, is to continue the effort of last session to make 
it plainer as to both complaint and remedy. It seems clear, 
however, that the trouble complained of is misunder- 
stood or rather misnamed, and that it would be measur- 
ably remedied by either plan suggested; and nothing is 
plainer than that exemption is too much to the money 
lender's advantage. It is fair, however, to say, that upon 
inquiry among the states, none of them have any plan by 
which this inequality is wholly corrected; and after in- 
vestigation, provision for which was requested of your 
predecessors, and a better understanding of the particu- 
lar question involved, the opinion is ventured that any 
conceivable remedy would not fully relieve, and disturlD 

291 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



more than it would quiet. It is also believed that strict- 
ly speaking there is no such thing as double taxation in 
our revenue system, but that a certain class does pay 
taxes on more property than it owns and that a certain 
other class is not thus suspected. It is then deemed good 
policy to either prove the error of the premises or cease 
agitation. 

EDUCATION 

The common schools, under our educational system, 
which, may we not congratulate ourselves, is firmly es- 
tablished, would undoubtedly be improved by a better 
supervision. The beneficial influence upon schools of a 
thorough superintendence cannot be questioned. In 
matters of property you aim to secure the highest order 
of care and responsibility. Should you do less for your 
children during the formative period of their lives? 

THE COLLEGES 

The colleges at BurUngton and Middlebury are evi- 
dently making good use of the aid they receive from the 
treasury. Higher education in this State is upon a bet- 
ter footing than ever before, appreciably because of the 
assistance found in State encouragement. 

NORWICH UNIVERSITY 

Norwich University differs from any other educa- 
tional institution in the State, and from the work it has 
done deserves special consideration. A school in which 
a Dewey and many others prominent in the country's 
history were educated should receive more generous sup- 
port. It has since the civil war labored under great dis- 
advantages and should not be allowed to continue longer 
as it has been obliged to, but be given such State rec- 
ognition as will enable it to enlarge the field of its useful- 
ness and enter upon a new era of prosperity. 

292 . 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



This school is based upon obedience, and calculated 
to develop the best type of citizenship. 

THE NORMAL SCHOOLS 

Pursuant to No. 20, Acts of 1896, W. E. Howard of 
Middlebury, C, A. Bunker of Peacham, F. W. Pierce of 
Chester, and L. S. Norton of Bennington were appointed, 
who, with State Superintendent of Education; M. S. 
Stone, constitute the Board of Normal School Examiners, 
Commissioners and Supervisors, in said act contem- 
plated. 

These schools, upon the report of this board, will re- 
quire your attention, and it is hoped they will be put up- 
on some permanent basis satisfactory to all, so that they 
may do the best possible work. 

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 

This is one of the best institutions in the State. Un- 
der the management of an able board of trustees and a 
most efficient superintendent and matron, little if any- 
thing about it could be improved. It is a complete 
school for so many of our unfortunate boys and girls, 
who, by its loving influences, are being shown the way to 
a respectable life, that you should bear it favorably in 
mind and provide its every need. In this school the 
child is taught industry, common school work, religion, 
love and purity. 

STATE PRISON AND HOUSE OF CORRECTION 

The prisons are conducted by an able Board of Di- 
rectors, efficient officials, and, considering our present 
system, the management is excellent. 

Each institution ought to have the warden's dwell- 
ing, which has been under consideration so long and for 
which an appropriation was once made. Many convicts 

293 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



can be safely employed at farm labor, profitable to the 
State, and to great individual advantage. The improve- 
ments at the House of Correction, affording enlarged ac- 
commodations, were needed. This prison now has a de- 
sirable chapel, hospital and dining room, which allows 
the prisoners to eat at table instead of in their cells. 
These changes, with the drill exercise and flower lawns 
around the buildings, give the establishment a new ap- 
pearance. 

PRISON REFORM 

There are in this country one hundred thousand crim- 
inals, and in this State about four hundred of this num- 
ber, of the average age of twenty-five years and confined 
under average sentences of about three years. Former- 
ly this class had the sympathy of only sentimentalists 
and cranks, but latterly clear-headed, kind-hearted men 
have entreated a larger effort in their behalf. The ex- 
periences of those who know the most about prison 
methods prove the wisdom of reformatory work; stern 
repression being considered a relic of those days when 
the mills of the gods ground fine. There are many serv- 
ing behind the bars more from accident than from a crim- 
inal nature. Some are there because they know no bet- 
ter, and some from choice. These sub-divisions, though, 
represent a small percentage of prison life. From what- 
ever cause these fellow mortals are thus unfortunate, 
the State should endeavor to put them in the straight 
and narrow way; therefore, in connection with every 
prison there should be a school in which a portion of 
every convict's time should be spent in improving head 
and heart. The average convict, upon receiving his lib- 
erty, becomes a parent, often of a large family, and in- 
stead of calculating how much can be put into the treas- 

294 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



ury from his time and labor while under sentence, would 
it not be wiser and more humane as a people to employ 
ourselves in calculating how much good can be done him 
and our future citizenship? During this administration 
court expenses have been $238,000, three-fourths of 
which arose from criminal prosecutions. 

Education is the foundation of reformation. It is a 
plant of slow growth, always, however, manifesting its in- 
fluence in the course of time, and properly directed is 
sure to convert, elevate, dignify and honor. We should 
no longer, then, consider our criminals as a source of 
revenue, but as unfortunate men and women with souls 
to save and characters to rebuild. The inmates of pris- 
ons are public wards from whose vicious tendencies and 
criminal acts society demands protection; and since these 
wards are continued from generation to generation, is it 
not as interesting to study a diminution of their num- 
bers as simply to restrain them? Since then repression 
does not perceptibly diminish this social menace, the 
influences, by reason of which we are kept above it, 
should be given the hearts of those who thus break law 
and disturb order. 

It is recorded, in those days when the mills ground 
fine, that a duly solemnized family became conspicuous 
in criminal annals. The parents served the full term of 
more or less sentences for their misdeeds, and yet found 
time to plant the seed from which, in two generations, 
seventy odd grew up into enrolled criminals. In that 
case the public fenced one side of the field, imagining 
they had an enclosure. 

The people of this State donate annually thousands 
of dollars to prepare the hearts of heathen in foreign 
lands for communion with the Heart of Hearts, but we 



295 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



give nothing to lift up the hearts of an unfortunate class 
we always have with us, called criminals. 

The courts that try and dispose of these cases do the 
best that can be done from their standpoint. No man, 
however, at the outset, can determine the most advisable 
treatment for a convict who starts on a long term of pris- 
on service; each case should be watched, trusted and en- 
couraged according to the progress observed. Few abso- 
lutely unimprovoble cases will be found, and they can be 
put down for stern repression. 

Whatever along this line of thought is now done for 
the convict becomes a part of the Governor's work, and 
unless you desire to continue the course at present pur- 
sued in this State with this class of our people, you 
should authorize the Board of Directors to ascertain de- 
serving cases as they appear from prison discipline and 
in the school work of the prisons, which you should also 
authorize, and to recommend these cases for such condi- 
tional executive clemency as may seem advisable; and a 
board of prison supervisors should be created charged 
with the duty of knowing, through the sheriffs and other 
police officers of the State, the faith with which such con- 
victs keep the terms of their release, and to finally rec- 
ommend full pardon to all whose lives prove worthy 
of restoration to citizenship. Such a board, acting in 
conjunction with the executive, will relieve him of much 
hard work which does not belong to his office, and ren- 
der a much needed service of which the State in due 
time will be proud, under which our society cannot 
fail to improve and because of which court expenses 
will gradually decrease. 

Trusting you will thoroughly investigate and care- 
fully consider this most important subject, it is commit- 
ted and commended, hoping, in the interests of humanity 

296 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



and the welfare of society, for your favorable action up- 
on some plan in your judgment best suited to public de- 
mands in this behalf. 

PARDONS AND CONDITIONAL DISCHARGES 

One person only, in this administration, has been 
granted a pardon. The conditional discharge is so gen- 
erally mistaken for a pardon, and so much misunder- 
standing prevails as to its economy in prison service, 
that an explanation may not be unprofitable. The pris- 
oner released conditionally under the statute is still a 
convict and continues such until pardoned under theicon- 
stitution. The conditional discharge does not interfere 
with the sentence of the court, except as to liberty, local- 
ity and labor of the convict; these conditions are impor- 
tant to a free man but by no means all of life. The con- 
ditions of such a discharge require the released to deport 
according to the exactions of good behavior, and report 
monthly to Governor and Sheriff. Thus assisted, mak- 
ing life successfully a satisfactory period of time, the ex- 
ecutive can remove the disabilities remaining under the 
sentence and restore the highest privileges of life. The 
discharge then simply suspends certain features of the 
sentence, puts the convict on good behavior, watches, 
and finally treats him according to his deserts. The sen- 
tence thus suspended remains over the person to whom 
it relates indefinitely, and when thought best he can be 
pardoned, or, failing in conduct, be returned to prison. 
In case of misconduct these released convicts can easily, 
without adding to court expenses, be returned to cus- 
tody. The conditional discharge, then, is a wise provi- 
sion, and properly used cannot fail to conserve the best 
interests of all concerned. 

During this administration one hundred and twenty- 
297 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



seven applications for clemency have been carefully con- 
sidered, and forty-eight have been conditionally released; 
seven of this number because far advanced in disease, 
some of whom have since died. The average portion of 
sentence to each thus released is two years, and remem- 
ber all these cases are still convicts out on trial, under po- 
litical and social disabilities, calling for the cooperation 
of every true citizen in conducting them to respectabil- 
ity and usefulness; and many of them already report in- 
teresting progress. 

EXPENSE OF COMMITMENT 

The State has paid during the present administra- 
tion for commitments to the House of Correction 
$10,780.70, of which a portion is worked out and returned 
to the treasury by the convicts. If the 722 commit- 
ments had been made by a warden from the prison, 
which in the opinion of the superintendent could have 
been done without additional force, a saving would have 
been made to the treasury of from five to seven thousand 
dollars, depending on number in a committal. This 
showing relates to the House of Correction, and if ex- 
tended to the State Prison would be somewhat larger. 

I recommend that you consider and act upon it in 
the interest of a more economical public service. 

THE WATERBURY ASYLUM 

It is easy to say this institution is under excellent 
management and its inmates well cared for. Little more 
can be said in this connection without repeating the de- 
tails of the superintendent's report, to which your atten- 
tion is directed. 

The investigation of two years ago resulted in a rad- 

298 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



ical change of administration, which in many respects 
must be considered an improvement. 

It is pleasing to no longer see bars at most of the 
ward windows, and to know that rarely any of the unfor- 
tunate inmates are restrained. Another way, easier, gen- 
tler, kinder, has been devised, and suggests a humanity 
in the treatment and care of such cases that our people 
expect. 

During the present administration a cottage, neat 
and tidy, to accommodate the convalescent female pa- 
tients, has been opened, and serves a good purpose, al- 
lowing improvables, in an improving condition, to be 
cared for apart from the others. 

There are in this institution from thirty to fifty old 
demented people, which number are not, strictly speak- 
ing, insane, but most decidedly not fit in mind or body 
to remain in any of our town or city commmunities, for 
lack of convenience to properly care for them. These 
should be separated from the violent class, and an annex 
or cottage, similar to the one above referred to, should 
be added for them. 

The Asylum is sadly in need of grounds upon which 
the patients can be exercised. It also needs more farm 
territory, upon which the labor of many of the inmates 
can be utilized, greatly to their benefit and the advantage 
of the State. These would not be expensive additions, 
and whatever they might cost, their practical value to 
the institution and its occupants would be more than an 
equivalent for the price paid. 

Of the changes in State institutions in the last two 
years, none are more satisfactory than those seen at the 
Asylum. 



299 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



BRATTLEBORO RETREAT 

Few establishments of the kind in the country are 
superior, in location, equipment, surroundings and man- 
agement, to this one. It is indeed a retreat, abounding 
in conveniences and comforts. The State has about one 
hundred patients in this institution, and the counties of 
Windham, Windsor, Bennington and Rutland are author- 
ized to send all cases arising within their jurisdiction to 
this asylum. This arrangement was made because the 
Waterbury Asylum was in a crowded condition, and the 
Retreat was used to accommodate the overflow, the un- 
derstanding being that whenever there is room at the 
State institution it shall be occupied by these cases. 

THE soldiers' HOME 

No expense incurred by the State serves a better 
purpose, or is more cheerfully met, than the allowance to 
this institution. Since its establishment the State has ex- 
pressed its gratitude to the indigent veterans of the civil 
war in a willing maintenance of this home. The record 
already discloses that its need is growing less from year 
to year as the numbers dependent upon it are one by one 
mustered into eternity. No Vermont Legislature will 
ever need be told the wants of the Soldiers' Home. 
At the session of 1898, as at all former sessions since it 
was founded, a generous support will be accorded. 

FISH HATCHERY 

The Hatchery at Roxbury is doing a good work 
stocking the streams and ponds of the State with trout; 
and no comment is required to demonstrate its efficiency 
or benefits. The Hatchery deserves well at your hands. 

300 



•MY POLITICAL LIFE 



STATE GEOLOGIST AND CURATOR 

The official in charge of this branch of the service, 
Mr. George W. Perry, has been and still is seriously out 
of health and unable to suitably complete the work con- 
templated by Act No. 7 of the acts of the last session. 
Resigning his office, Prof. George H. Perkins of Burling- 
ton was appointed to fill the vacancy, and gives assur- 
ance that he will have ready, sometime during the ses- 
sion, a report of his work. 

RAILROADS AND THE RAILROAD COMMISSION 

In the past two years there have been forty-eight fa- 
tal accidents in connection with the railroad service of 
the State, which fact presents a subject for your inves- 
tigation and consideration. 

The electric roads are becoming such a factor in the 
carrying service as to deserve your careful attention. 

The better opinion seems to be that these roads 
should be put under the jurisdiction of the Railroad 
Commission. 

This Commission continues its work and is coming 
to be all the more acceptable to both people and roads. 

At the last session the pay of the members of this 
and the other State Boards was changed, and while the 
law accomplishing the change was in the main well ad- 
vised, yet you are requested to consider if the pay of this 
Board is what it ought to be, and if it should not be re- 
stored practically to the old basis. Upon investigation 
you will find the duties of the Railroad Commission dif- 
ferent from those of the other State Boards. 

STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 
The importance of this organization cannot be over- 
estimated. Food, water and other health conditions of 

301 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



the State are subjects legitimately under its control. 
Laboratory work, as necessary to the physician as the 
compass to the mariner, conducted at Burlington by Dr. 
Linsley under the auspices of this board, should be en- 
larged and more liberally assisted. I trust your inter- 
est in this feature of our government will be commensu- 
rate with its value to health and life. The State must 
aid the laboratory work, or it must cease. Consult then 
its true relation to the dearest interests of our people, 
and deal with it so as to promote the civilization of which 
we boast, 

STATE BENEFICIARIES 

This State appropriates, each biennial term, for the 
education of indigent, feeble-minded, blind, deaf and 
dumb children, the sum of twenty-two thousand dollars. 
The statute makes the Governor commissioner of this 
fund and its application, and requires the towns, through 
the county clerks, to keep him advised of the number of 
these unfortunates in the State. These required returns 
are not made according to law, so, for the purpose of 
knowing whether all such of our children are being edu- 
cated, a recent canvass of the several towns was institu- 
ted, revealing that twenty-one are not considered. This 
number and the thirty-three receiving benefits make fif- 
ty-four of this class in the State. It was thought you 
might wish to know how nearly existing provision cov- 
ers this field of duty. The most of those at school are im- 
provables and improving. Some have graduated, mak- 
ing room for others, but about the number of twenty 
scattered over the State are subjects for your further 
consideration in this direction. If the appropriations 
were in one general sum instead of a given amount to 
each class, and the commissioner allowed to apportion 
according to applications, regardless of classes, the work 

302 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



intended would no doubt be more satisfactorily accom- 
plished. If the State should own its own institutions for 
these wards, it would be better than to employ other 
states to render the service. 

THE NATIONAL GUARD 

This organization won golden opinions on public oc- 
casions, including the muster at Chester. Its efficiency 
was all that could be desired, except as to physical abil- 
ity, which, for lack of interest in membership, appeared 
in the ranks and among the officers to an objectionable 
extent. This in future organization should be carefully 
guarded against. 

Soon after the muster at Chester, Capt. Herbert E. 
Tutherly of the regular army, who had served accept- 
ably four years in connection with the National Guard, 
returned to his regiment, and Major Stephen P. Jocelyn, 
1 9th Infantry, was detailed by the War Department to 
continue the service from which, under Capt. Tutherly, 
the Guard had realized so much benefit. Maj. Jocelyn 's 
work opened auspiciously and the War Department has 
been requested, upon a reorganization of the Guard, to 
return him to his detail in connection with it. 

Early last winter the old pattern guns were ex- 
changed for the new model; the buzzacot and other 
camp conveniences were ordered for the several com- 
panies. 

In March last, war threatening, requisitions were 
made for munitions, tentage, clothing and blankets nec- 
essary to fully equip the regiment, which were not hon- 
ored for want of property. Had these requisitions been 
filled a regiment of the size of the old Guard ready for 
active service could have been sent to the front on 
twelve hours notice. 

303 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The discipline of this body as then organized was ex- 
cellent when it volunteered, as one man, in response to 
the President's call for troops to serve in the war with. 
Spain. From this ready action it was easy to tender full 
quotas under the President's request for an army, which 
was done on the day of his first proclamation. 

Mobilization of the regiment awaited orders from the 
War Department, and it rendezvoused on the permanent 
camp ground at Burlington, where, the physical fitness of 
officers and men being determined, it was raised to 1008 
officers and men, mustered into the United States ser- 
vice, and immediately, under orders from the War De- 
partment, proceeded to camp of instruction at Chicka- 
mauga Park. The War Department early, by orders to that 
effect, signified its purpose to assume all expense of the 
regiment accruing after acceptance by the government, 
thus absolutely leaving the State no opportunity to do 
anything in this regard. 

Upon muster-ih all army property in the State was 
required by the government for use in clothing and 
equipping the regiment, which being insufficient, it went 
away only partially supplied in these respects, but with 
the assurance that the deficiency would be furnished at 
Chickamauga as soon as the necessary property could be 
manufactured. Upon arrival at Chickamauga the exec- 
utive was advised from time to time by its officers and 
others that the regiment was comfortably provided for 
and being equipped as rapidly as possible; and from such 
advices, not able to learn of anything needed which it 
did not have, no expense after it left Camp Olympia was 
incurred by the State, except to grant a request for tac- 
tics at a cost of about .$100. 

Some of the states sent fully equipped regiments be- 
cause they had uniforms and guns used in connection 

304 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



with their Guard organizations with which to do it, and 
it is to be regretted that this State did not have a Nation- 
al Guard organization large enough to allow the same 
thing to be done by its regiment. Such not being the 
case, the Vermont soldiers had to leave the State par- 
tially equipped, about 700 in uniform and 300 in citizen's 
dress; not, however, until the best that could be done 
for them in this regard was done. 

Such organizations, upon acceptance by the govern- 
ment, being in the United States service, were entirely 
under national control and no state had a right to equip 
such soldiers without the consent of the War Depart- 
ment, which consent, as already stated, was at the outset 
withheld. Then the matter of equipping the regiment 
before it left the State, a thing so much desired by all, 
stood as follows: 

1st. That no chance to uniform being presented be- 
fore muster into the service, requisitions thereto re- 
questing having been refused; and after acceptance such 
work being exclusively assumed by the government, the 
State was thus precluded from any part therein. 

2nd. Under these circumstances the State could not 
have uniformed the regiment without overriding the au- 
thority of the government, which was regarded an insur- 
mountable difficulty. 

3rd. When suddenly and unexpectedly the regi- 
ment was ordered South, a three days' delay of the or- 
der was secured, to allow better preparation for depar- 
ture and final adieus; also to see if still further delay 
was desired, that further effort might be made to uniform 
and arm before going; but the executive was informed 
by many of the officers and men that it was a general de- 

305 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



sire of the regiment to go at once and not wait for full 
equipment. 

4th. It was repeatedly and no doubt correctly re- 
ported by the officers and others, including soldiers, that 
the government kept its assurance and completed the 
equipment of the regiment as speedily as possible, and 
under the circumstances with commendable despatch; 
and also that no unnecessary hardship was imposed up- 
on the men while at Camp Thomas, and that it suffered 
from nothing more than the unavoidable inconvenience 
of camp life and consequent sickness, which, while con- 
siderable and greatly to be deplored, was much less than 
in many other regiments in the war with Spain and very 
much below the average, for a similar period, of regi- 
ments from this State in the civil war. 

When peace was assured, the War Department was 
requested to move the Vermont regiment from Chicka- 
mauga to Camp Olympia and muster it out of the United 
States service when no longer needed for war purposes. 
A thirty days' furlough and a muster-out at company 
headquarters were also requested. These requests were 
granted, and when muster-out is complete it will be the 
First Regiment, National Guard of Vermont, under No. 
5 of the Acts of the Special Session. 

Thus in ontline you have the part Vermont took in a 
most remarkable war, which demonstrates a patriotism 
and soldiership of which the State is proud, suggests the 
anxious love that went with and welcomed the return of 
our soldiers, and places beyond dispute the advantage of 
an efficient militia so organized as to be always ready for 
any emergency; and looking to such an institution, I rec- 
ommend a Guard organization sufficient in numbers to 
constitute a maximum regiment for the United States 
service. Such an organization will need be twice as 

306 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



large as now authorized by law, excluding the battery; 
to maintain which, under the conditions of our popula- 
tion, the companies will have to be small, probably no 
larger than authorized by existing laws, and twice as 
many, properly distributed over the State, which would 
give two regiments of same size as the present one. 
These two regiments, upon call for troops from the State, 
could easily be consolidated into one, retaining the offi- 
cers according to seniority of rank, provision for which 
should be made in the law authorizing such a system, 
which would be notice to all participating, and friction 
would thus be avoided in case of consolidation. 

The battery property has been turned over to the 
government and in such legislation as you may provide 
for reorganizing the militia the battery should be omitted. 
Perplexities were encountered in preparing the First 
Vermont Volunteer Infantry for service, and it was com- 
pelled to go in an incomplete condition because of inade- 
quate organization. The contract for enlistment should 
be such as to render the men enlisted under it liable to 
the call of the President without further enlistment, and 
possibly the organization should be in connection with a 
national statute, which would render it more a feature of 
the regular army than it has been. A change in our mil- 
itia system, that will accomplish a more practicable or- 
ganization, is of the utmost importance; and if the State 
does not feel able to maintain some such militia or Guard 
organization, it better do without. It has cost from 
$25,000 to $30,000 a year to maintain the present system, 
which was sufficient for parade purposes, but did not 
prove equal to the requirements of actual service, not be- 
cause of quality, but owing to an insufficient organi- 
zation. 



307 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



EXPENSE OF MOBILIZING THE REGIMENT 

Exclusive of the seven dollars a month extra pay to 
the enlisted men, the expense incurred by the State in 
preparing the regiment for the United States service was 
about $20,000, all of which becomes a claim against the 
general government. 

SPECIAL SESSION 

After fully considering the exigencies of the service, 
a special session was summoned to meet May 5, last, at 
which an extra compensation was granted the enlisted 
men of the regiment, which generous action was every- 
where received with great favor and more than appreci- 
ated by the men and their families. 

This gratuity was a willing testimonial of the State's 
gratitude to the valor, patriotic sacrifice, patient service 
and unquestioned gallantry of its brave regiment, which, 
though not employed in battle, none the less performed 
its full duty and returns to as warm a welcome as heart 
can express. 

PERMANENT CAMP GROUND 

The camp ground near Fort Ethan Allen, consisting 
of about fifty-three acres, and which was in an unfinished 
condition at the beginning of the present administration, 
has been equipped for permanent use. It is enclosed by 
a suitable fence, has convenient buildings, is well water- 
ed, sodded, and by reason of its proximity to the range 
upon the government reservation, is one of the most de- 
sirable camp grounds in the country. The State, for the 
consummation of this result, is indebted to public-spirited 
citizens. To the sum of $2015 thus donated, about a 
thousand dollars was added from the treasury. 

308 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



ROADS 

Better roads are so undeniably desirable, that all sec- 
tions of the country have become interested in securing 
them. Some of the States have provided means and 
adopted practical ways for permanent road work, some 
are still discussing the subject, while this State distrib- 
utes among the towns $87,000 of State money annually, 
raised for permanent road work, which is too frequently 
used to patch roads and in some instances for ordinary 
town purposes. 

For generations in this State we put toward a half 
million each year on roads;— not into them, but upon 
them — and the roads were from year to year the same 
poor ways, over which a patient public jounced and stum- 
bled. A few years since, only, our eyes opened and the 
need of better roads gradually became a conviction 
which six years ago ripened into a five per cent State 
tax, authorized to carry on permanent work. A State 
commission, with authority to suggest as to the charac- 
ter of this work and application of this tax, was created, 
and though it had rendered a valuable service, and it is 
believed accomplished much good, it was dropped two 
years ago, leaving the fund thus dedicated to permanent 
road work entirely to the town road commissioners. 
There should be a State supervision of its expenditure, 
or the fund, which is in the nature of a trust, created for 
a given purpose, should cease. 

Permanent road building is not accomplished by or- 
dinary highway work, but by constructing roads that 
will take care of themselves for a reasonable period of 
time. Permanency should be considered with reference 
to locality, travel and other kindred conditions, and 
should not be made too expensive. Extravagance is a 

309 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



danger to be avoided as one that will imperil the whole 
enterprise. We should regulate our progress in this re- 
spect by practical economy. 

The roads of the State have been noticeably im- 
proved within the last decade, and if we wisely push for- 
ward the work so well begun, a greater improvement 
will follow in years to come. Massachusetts has probab- 
ly made greater progress in permanent construction than 
any other State, and expends toward a million of dollars 
annually in aid of this work on a plan it might be well 
for you to consider. 

The better you make the roads, the more your farms 
will be worth, and all the more will summer tourists 
come within our borders. 

If you should raise the State tax to twelve per cent, 
and expend every dollar of the probable $200,000 such a 
tax would annually command, under competent State su- 
pervision, the State would enter upon an era of prosper- 
ity that can be afforded and would be enjoyed. Remem- 
ber it requires money to make roads. Do not bond, pay 
as you go, but get permanent roads as rapidly as can be 
considered consistent with our financial ability. 

PROHIBITION 

Prohibition continues to be one of the most interest- 
ing features of our State government, and more vital to 
our society than any other, and deserves your most care- 
ful, earnest consideration. 

Two-thirds of the criminal class attribute their down- 
fall to the use of alcoholic stimulants, and an equal per- 
centage of the insane and paupers can ascribe their mis- 
fortunes to the same cause. 

The prohibitory law is well enforced in the rural sec- 
tions, fairly well enforced in a few of the larger towns, 

310 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



indifferently enforced in some of them, and openly disre- 
garded in others. The prohibitory cause in this State is 
substantially in the same condition as two years ago. 
The law is as well enforced now as then, possibly better, 
but this does not meet the situation. Some localities, 
but few, however, to our credit be it said, persist in fla- 
grant violations— a fact well known to the officials whose 
duty it is to enforce. There is law enough, there are of- 
ficials enough, and we will never be a self-respecting peo- 
ple until enforcement of the prohibitory law is trium- 
phant. After two years official experience, please note 
the opinion that the law can be enforced, as well one law 
as another, in all sections of the State alike, when com- 
plainant, prosecutor, witness, judge, jury and citizen co- 
operate in so ordering. 

The state's attorneys hold the key to the situation 
and the judges of the courts turn it when they allow cer- 
tificates of pay. Great power for weal or woe to our peo- 
ple rests with the judges who hold our county courts. 

TUBERCULOSIS 

Between forty and fifty thousand dollars has already 
been expended in attempting to subdue this disease. 
Certain indications only are given by which the course 
of the work for its extermination may be known, while 
its progress is susceptible of self-registration. 

An individual who would undertake the extinction 
of as volatile a quantity as pulmonary ailments, or any 
kindred susceptibles among stock, at a probable cost of 
a hundred or more thousand dollars, work four years and 
expend fully half that sum, knowing his progress only by 
the rule of guess, would be counted fit for guardianship. 
Yet this is what the thorough-going business man would 
say the State of Vermont is doing. A record of all the 

311 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Stock in the State subject to this disease, with power to 
test as fast as recorded, would soon determine the whole 
undertaking and afford an opportunity to know more 
of the thoroughness of the work already done. From a 
business standpoint there can be little question about this 
proposition, and it is as clear that the present hap-hazard 
way of testing will lead to nothing definite and cost as 
much, if not more than a compulsory, systematic plan. 
A man should be allowed to do according to his 
mind, if it is right, and should be compelled to do what 
he ought, if he will not do it of his own motion. If it is 
right to test that portion of the stock of the State volun- 
tarily offered for that purpose, it is also right to test the 
balance, whether the owners are willing or not. If it is 
right to test three-fourths, it is all the more right to test 
the other fourth. The three-fourths tested have a right, 
in self-defence, to demand a test of the balance. A com- 
pulsory test, with an accurate record, would soon furnish 
our State with something for the money it has expended 
in this direction, and the farmer will soon find it to his 
advantage to have a public record of the sanitary condi- 
tion of his stock. 

CORPORATION LEGISLATION 

The State tenaciously adheres to the vicious practice 
of granting legislative charters. Most matters can be in- 
corporated through the office of the Secretary of State 
under existing laws, and every whit as good a charter 
can be thus obtained. 

Repeated but unsuccessful efforts have been made to 
change this practice, and, while some charters are grant- 
ed under general laws, yet at the last session 129 corpo- 
ration acts ran through the legislative hopper, and also 
67 called miscellaneous, but relating to corporations or 

312 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



charters, making 196 acts in all of a private character, 
occupying three-fourths of the book containing the acts 
of that session; and these against 142 public acts. It is 
fair to estimate that three-fourths of the time and ex- 
pense of legislation in this State goes to private benefit. 
And this is not the worst; nearly all this work is rushed 
on to executive approval by title only. It will bear re- 
peating that three-fourths of our legislation is for private 
account, in which the State has only a paternal interest. 
From a full canvass of the states upon this subject you 
are advised that only a few of them do the like, and they 
regret their neglect to have cast off the incubus. Some 
of the states avoid all private legislation by constitution- 
al inhibition; others regulate it by legislative enactment; 
so that nearly all escape the folly in which we persist. 

The granting of charters is a source of revenue in 
all the states issuing them under the general law, rang- 
ing from a few hundred, along the way of several thou- 
sand, to the round sum of three hundred thousand dol- 
lars annually in the state of New York. Instead of real- 
izing for the treasury from these favors for private gain, 
we expend thousands every year to offer them indiscrim- 
inately in large numbers, many of which are never used, 
and in a way which shocks legislative practices. Seven 
sessions has this farce been observed by an eye-witness, 
and belief has become firm that it should give way to the 
original intention that our government should not subor- 
dinate its legislative prerogatives to private behests. 

Charters generally, even those including questions 
of eminent domain and condemnation proceedings, can 
undoubtedly be authorized by general legislation, for 
which a reasonable fee should be paid into the treasury. 
If constitutional difficulties embarrass, make exceptions 
to suit cases; but remember any power that has time and 

313 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



patience to read through at least once the charter it 
grants, is in better position to confer a safe instrument 
than the Vermont Legislature. 

You have some of the facts and reasons bearing up- 
on this matter. It is then in your hands, and the people 
look to you for deliverance. 

THE CAUCUS 

The caucus is a root factor in the nomination, and, 
where a nomination is equivalent to an election, is of the 
utmost importance. This institution is regulated in 
most of the states by law, and it should be in this State. 
It has been allowed to run wild long enough. House bill 
No. 1 of last session, which would have received prompt 
executive approval had it not been strangled by some un- 
friendly influence; was well enough as far as it went, but 
a broader law, regulating the caucus from start to finish, 
with penalty provisions, is what the people are waiting 
for, and it is the general impression that this session 
should enact a law by which caucus jumping and conven- 
tion raiding will be prevented for all future time. Con- 
trol the caucus as completely as the election, require 
check lists, put all the meetings at the same hour, have 
every choice by ballot, keep the boxes open a reasonable 
time, exact an honest count, so that a delegate's creden- 
tials will signify purity of process, independence of 
choice, and certify an honest result. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

This State ought to have an Attorney General. 
Such an officer would assure a better administration of 
the criminal law and save the treasury a very consider- 
able sum of money every year. His services are needed 
by the Governor often, and at times it is awkward to be 

314 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



without them. It will take from the local attorney lucra- 
tive assignments, but what he loses the public will gain. 
Aware of the general prejudice against more offices, 
I yet trust you will not allow this longer to outweigh sub- 
stantial reasons in favor of an office so much needed, the 
creation of which will promote the public weal and not only 
cost nothing, but accomplish an actual annual saving. 

PATRIOTISM 

Love of country, next to love of home, is the sheet 
anchor of society. A people established in patriotism 
are strong individually, and when associated for political 
purposes suggest great possibilities. 

Patriotism has figured conspicuously in setting the 
standard of Vermont character, and school children 
should be taught the Hves of the country's founders and 
defenders, that purity, principle and justice may continue 
to predominate in affairs of state. Study Washington 
and Lincoln until the deeds of their noble lives are re- 
flected in the conduct of coming generations. 

Put the flag over the schoolhouse by legislative act 
and defend it against thoughtless desecration as you 
would against the common enemy. Respect the flag and 
you will respect the country. 

PURE FOOD 

The food consumed by the people should be pure. 
Adulteration, substitution and imitation are active en- 
emies of such a product. These gilded arts have assail- 
ed health and so far sophisticated business and morals as 
to intimidate honest men in efforts at honest transac- 
tions. 

The states cannot alone fully regulate this subject, 
but perhaps Congress can, by either controlling it direct- 

315 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ly or authorizing the states to do so. If after all is said 
and done interstate rights or repugnancy to constitution- 
al prerogatives are lions in the path, amend the national 
constitution so as to remove this barrier to honesty, be- 
hind which rascality intrenches and from which our in- 
dustries are assaulted. If you should memorialize Con- 
gress for the regulation of this matter, you would reflect 
a sentiment sure at no distant day to assert itself against 
these giant frauds. 

INSPECTOR OF MILK TESTS 

The creameries of the State are public conveniences. 
Most of them receive and account for milk according to 
some kind of a test, and since many farmers realize their 
principal income from milk hauled to these public places, 
why should not a public guaranty be given of both accu- 
racy and honesty? Our farmers, delivering, each to the 
creameries, from a few thousand to 300,000 pounds annu- 
ally, are awaiting patiently the pleasure of an introduc- 
tion to an inspector of milk tests, and the hope is you 
will soon accord them such an opportunity. 

FIRE PROTECTION 

Of the losses by fire in this State, a large number 
can be traced to incendiarism, and also a large number 
remain unknown. In the year 1895, the incendiary light- 
ed forty-three fires in the State, and ninety-one were of 
unknown origin. The property losses by fire that year 
were $621,071, of which insurance companies paid over 
$400,000. Sound public policy demands that more be 
done to discover the unknown and to extinguish the in- 
cendiary's torch. 

Vermont should have a Fire Marshal, or some equiv- 
alent official, paid by the insurance companies, through 
the State treasury, as the Inspector of Finance is paid, 

316 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



and similar officials in many of the states; whose duty it 
shall be to establish if possible the origin of every fire 
that occurs. Reducing hazard in fire risks reduces rates, 
and in this way, if in no other, the people get the benefit 
of such an office. 

This is the fourth time the executive has called leg- 
islative attention to this matter, and you should stamp it 
a message joke, or accord it the serious attention it de- 
serves, 

STATE HOUSE IMPROVEMENTS 

It is pleasant to note the improvement since last ses- 
sion in the system of lighting this building, and the State 
will enjoy this change more than any other that has been 
made in State property for years. 

The old gas system of lighting was insufficient and 
unhealthf ul. The Sergeant-at-Arms, the Honorable Tru- 
man C, Phinney, deserves the thanks of the State for 
making the change. 

ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATIONS 

In 1884, an appropriation was voted for the much 
needed new part to this building, and since it has been 
occupied the wonder, almost equal to any of the seven 
great ones, has been how we existed, or rather kept 
along without it. 

The State needs as seriously now as then an addition 
to the Capitol that shall accommodate the Speaker, 
Clerks, the Auditor, provide an office for the executive, 
and a place for public documents, papers and books that 
are now tucked away in damp, dark by-places, where 
mildew and destruction are already at work. 

This can be accomplisned at moderate expense, but, 
cost much or little, such an improvement is needed, and 
what the State of Vermont needs it can afford. 

317 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



COMPOSITION OF STATE BOARDS 

Women upon boards of charity have served, in many- 
instances, an excellent purpose, especially in institutions 
where both sexes are represented, and a great many 
think you will elevate the public service by providing a 
place for them upon such boards in this State; and such 
thought seems the better opinion upon the subject. 

PARIS EXPOSITION 

upon the invitation of His Excellency the Governor 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this State was 
represented at a joint meeting of the Massachusetts 
State Board of Trade and State of Massachusetts, and at 
a banquet to the Governors of the New England States, 
and invited guests, on the twenty-second day and even- 
ing of March last, for the purpose of harmonizing a plan 
under which the New England States can as one body be 
represented at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Nothing 
was definitely agreed upon except that it would be desir- 
able for the six states to exhibit their products as one or- 
ganization. This subject claims your attention, and it is 
hoped you will, by special committee, investigate its 
merits, and after conferring with the other New England 
Governors, more particularly Governor Wolcott, you will 
act advisedly in the premises. 

In this connection it may be said that at the request 
of the Commissioner General for the United States to the 
Paris Exposition, through the agency of the schools in 
America, popular contributions are contemplated for a 
fund to erect a suitable memorial in honor of Lafayette, 
whose remains rest obscurely in the city of Paris. It is 
proposed to unveil and dedicate a monument on the 
fourth day of July, 1900, to the memory of this noble pa- 

318 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



triot, of which America and France will be equally 
proud; which ceremony will be, perhaps, the most con- 
spicuous historic feature of the world's coming Exposi> 
tioru 

Your able Superintendent of Education is canvassing 
the schools of the State, in aid of this significant and 
beautiful international event, and has been requested to 
report results, that you may fittingly memorialize. 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE 

The executive department should be provided with 
an office at the State Capitol and also a secretary whose 
entire time shall be given to the duties of his appoint- 
ment. 

The desirability of this cannot be successfully ques- 
tioned. 

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER 

The office of Insurance Commissioner has been sug- 
gested by those who have opportunity to know its advi- 
sability, and you will no doubt seasonably hear more up- 
on this subject and have an opportunity to pass upon its 
merits. 

FUTILE LEGISLATION 

At the last regular session one hundred and fifty sec 
tions of the Vermont statutes were amended and repeal 
ed. Each session some way seems called upon to cor 
rect a very considerable portion of the work of the pre 
ceding session, which fact carries its own explanation 
Do not feel under any obligation to make new laws 
Your best service is liable to be in preventing new enact 
ments. 

THE LAST NIGHT 

During the closing two days .of the last regular ses 

319 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



sion the executive signed more than one-third of the en- 
acted measures of the entire session, and it is hoped he 
approved them. This fact speaks for itself, and will con- 
tinue so to speak until the work of the sessions is more 
judiciously arranged and executed, and until our legisla- 
tors keep better faith with their sense of duty in this par- 
ticular. 

CONCLUSION 

The unique government of our unique little State 
has become historic. Vermont character is everywhere 
at a premium. The proud acts of our men are the envy 
of ambition. Good government, our perennial boast, de- 
pends upon guarding well every interest of the people. 
To the best of my ability have I, as opportunity offered, 
discharged this duty to my State. I have told you what 
has been left undone in years of the past that ought to 
have been done, and what has been done as best it could 
be during the last two years for the welfare of our Com- 
monwealth, and as I retire from public life, with which I 
have been honored more or less for the past twenty-six 
years, I desire to thank the people of the State I love for 
their confidence and uniform kindness. I desire also to 
thank my friends, from the deepest gratitude of the 
heart, for their support and counsel in time of trial. 
About to cross the threshold of a new century, in which 
the art of human government and composition of citizen- 
ship will have greater possibilities than ever before, let 
us look to God for courage, love and humanity, that 
shall keep Vermont in the national constellation of states 
the bright star that shall never set. 

Thanking you for the courtesy of this occasion, I bid 
you a final adieu. 

JOSIAH GROUT. 

320 



SESSION EXTRAORDINARY 

During my administration an extra session was call- 
ed to provide extra pay for the Spanish War soldiers. 

This matter is fully explained by the following proc- 
lamation and message. The suggested legislation re- 
sulted. 

STATE OF VERMONT 

BY JOSIAH GROUT, GOVERNOR 
A PROCLAMATION 

Whereas, A state of war exists between the United 
States and the Kingdom of Spain, and the President has 
called upon this State to furnish troops to assist in secur- 
ing peace: 

Whereas, Also, patriotic men, at the sacrifice of per- 
sonal interest and duty to family and home, with com- 
mendable promptness are responding to this call: ' 

Therefore, I, Josiah Grout, Governor of the State of 
Vermont, do hereby, by virtue of the Constitution in this 
behalf, summon the members of the Senate and House 
of Representatives to meet at Montpelier, in their respec- 
tive chambers in the State House, together with the of- 
ficers of the two houses on Thursday, the fifth day of 
May, 1898, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, that then and 
there measures may be considered authorizing and pro- 
viding funds for the equipment, subsistence and trans- 
portation of such soldiers as shall be furnished by Ver- 
mont to meet the President's said call and any ifuture 

321 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



call he may make during said war; and more particular- 
ly provide State compensation additional to the United 
States pay such soldiers will receive; and also to consid- 
er matters touching the organization of the National 
Guard of this State. 

Given under my hand and the State Seal, in the Ex- 
ecutive Chamber at Derby, this 28th day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
eight, and of the independence of the United States the 
one hundred and twenty-second, and of the independence 
of this State the one hundred and twenty-first. 

JOSIAH GROUT. 
By the Governor: 

J. W. Sault, 

Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs. 

MESSAGE 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

We are met to consider extraordinary questions 
which remind us that the oppression under which the 
people of Cuba have suffered for years has led them to 
repeated insurgent efforts, occasioning frequent losses to 
the business and commerce of this country and no incon- 
siderable expense in maintaining neutrality. 

We are also reminded that Spanish misrule in that is- 
land became a menace to international relations and an 
annoyance to peace, while starvation of helpless women 
and children awakened the sympathy of the world. 
These disturbing conditions of such long standing, so 
near us, together with the Maine disaster, present an in- 
dictment against the Spanish government too revolting 
and abhorrent for contemplation or apology. 

Negotiations failing to adjust the difficulties thus ap- 

322 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



pearing between the United States and Spain, war has 
been invoked as the high court in which the issues of 
this crushing indictment shall be tried. 

The demand of the United States in the premises of 
this case, is a government for Cuba that shall be a guar- 
anty of permanent peace to its people. To the justice of 
this proposition a united people subscribe; and Vermont 
heads the list of all the States in this interesting move- 
ment. 

This State tendered fulfilment of the President's call 
upon it for troops to assist in the war against Spain the 
23rd day of last month, and has since been awaiting the 
pleasure of the war department and co-operating with its 
officials. 

Vermont's quota for immediate service is one regi- 
ment of one thousand eight enlisted men and officers, 
and you are asked to provide equipment for this regi- 
ment how offered the service, and also to place the mili- 
tary quota of the State at the disposal of the government. 
Your attention is invited to the status of the militia when 
the present regiment of the Guard enters the United 
States service, and the desirability of a continuous militia 
organization. 

At the special session in April, 1861, called to assist 
in preparing the troops from this State for the civil war, 
a State compensation of seven dollars a month, extra to 
the United States pay, was granted each enlisted man, 
and you will be expected to regard the brave men now 
entering an unselfish war, waged in behalf of freedom 
and humanity, with at least as patriotic a consideration 
as favored those who went forth a generation since to 
battle for the integrity of the Union and the perpetuity 
of the Nation. 



323 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The regiment requested by the Secretary of War is 
about three hundred and fifty in excess of our quota un- 
der the President's call, but it is necessary to furnish it 
or allow Vermonters to serve in other State organiza- 
tions; and it was taken for granted that the pride of this 
distinctive little Commonwealth would be correctly antic- 
ipated by objecting to any such mixed service; besides, 
this overplus stands to our credit in case of future calls 
and places Vermont in this respect also at the head. 

Having thus indicated the business for which you 
are convened, the deliberations of the session are in your 
hands, and may your action be commensurate with the 
interest that animates the public heart, and such as to se- 
cure an early adjournment. 

JOSIAH GROUT, 
Governor. 
Executive Chamber, May 5, 1898. 



324 



PROCLAMATIONS 

Covering the time I served the State as Governor I 
issued the usual proclamations; and that you may know 
how they ran, I here give the substance of them in their 
order. 

THANKSGIVING. 1896 

A PROCLAMATION 

DEVOUTLY mindful of the goodness of our Heaven- 
ly Father, and deeming it eminently proper, as a people, 
to humbly acknowledge His many favors to us, and our 
dependence upon Him, I Josiah Grout, Governor, do here- 
by designate 

Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-six 

"THANKSGIVING DAY." 

Let all the people on this day praise the Lord for His 
mercy toward the children of men, and assemble in pub- 
lic worship, making grateful acknowledgment of the 
countless blessings vouchsafed by Him. 

Remember the poor, the afflicted, the unfortunate, 
and so far as possible bestow comforts. 

Let us be thankful for deliverance from pestilence 
and famine, for the earth's abundant increase to the hus- 
bandman, for the reward of toil, for the love of home, and 
the advantages of a Christian land in which our lot is 
cast; forgetting not the family reunion and friendly 
greeting, the gald spirit of which shall keep away sad- 
ness and discontent. 

325 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



FAST DAY. 1897 

A PROCLAMATION 

In order that the people may emphasize their reli- 
ance upon God's bounty and duly express their gratitude 
for the fostering watch-care of Divine Providence, and in 
accordance with a long established custom, I, Josiah 
Grout, Governor of the State of Vermont, do hereby set 
apart 

Friday, the ninth day of April next, as 

FAST DAY. 

I would recommend that on that day religious ser- 
vices be held, acknowledging the goodness of Almighty 
God to us as a people, and a State, with prayer for the 
continuance of needed mercies and blessings. 

ARBOR DAY, 1897 

A PROCLAMATION 

A recent custom of Executive origin and sanction 
advises the desirability of continued attention to the ar- 
boreal places of the State. Therefore, I, Josiah Grout, 
Governor of the State of Vermont, do hereby appoint 
Friday, the seventh day of May next, as 
ARBOR DAY. 

Let the people on this day plant tree and shrub in 
private yard, by the road side, around the school house 
and church, on the public green, and in every place with- 
in our borders suggested by beauty and comfort. Let 
the schools hold appropriate exercises, teachers and 
scholars taking part in thus fostering an interest in the 
beautiful. 

326 



MY POLITICAL LIFE 



THANKSGIVING, 1897 

A PROCLAMATION 

That the people may make special acknowledgment 
of the goodness of God and His many mercies toward 
them, I, Josiah Grout, Governor, do appoint 

Thursday, November 25, A. D., 1897, 

THANKSGIVING DAY, 

And would recommend that all on that day meet in wor- 
shipful recognition of the Eternal Holy One, by whose fa- 
vor we exist and enjoy our civilization. 

On that day remember kindly the suffering and af- 
flicted; also be thankful, tillers of the soil, for bountiful 
harvests; laborers, for relief from enforced idleness; fam- 
ilies, for the love of home; all classes, for religious influ- 
ences, surrounding and guiding; children, for education 
so free; and the friendly reunion, for the good cheer that 
keepeth away sadness. 

FAST DAY, 1898 

A PROCLAMATION 

That public acknowledgment of Heavenly Goodness 
may be made, a cherished institution of the Fathers pre- 
served, its usefulness renewed and civic righteousness 
promoted, I, Josiah Grout, Governor of the State of Ver- 
mont, do hereby continue 

FAST DAY 
by appointing 
Friday, the Eighth Day of April Next, 
to be respected as such. 

327 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



On this good day, in public meetings addressed by 
clergy and laity, remember the mercies of God, the death 
of the Master, and voice the moral needs of our lives as 
a people. Advocate the observance of law as a neces- 
sary requirement of good government, and urge a higher 
regard for temperance, purity and home, the most Heav- 
enly of earthly trinities. 

Keep the day as a sacred trust from a revered past, 
and let it be a time from which shall date a more devoted 
patriotism in each town, city and hamlet of the State. 

ARBOR DAY. 1898 

A PROCLAMATION 

To encourage a respected public custom, I do ap- 
point 

Friday, the 29th day of April next 

ARBOR DAY. 
Let the day be borne in mind, not forgetting to contrib- 
ute something to the beautiful of our State. Many a lo- 
cality already testifies to the desirability of Arbor Day 
observance, which so acceptably engages our better 
thoughts and more deeply interests in the study of Na- 
ture. 

Let then everyone in the Commonwealth consecrate 
this day to memory by planting with conscientious care 
a tree or shrub, in some suitable place which in the 
course of time will be more beautiful for its presence. 
More particularly may colleges and schools give the day 
such attention as will render it a present pleasure and a 
future value. 

Art, song and science dwell among the trees, the 
hills and the mountains, and let our students employ the 
day in beautifying their natural home. 

328 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 

THE SPEECH OF ALL THE SPEECHES I 
EVER MADE. 

THIS SPEECH WAS MADE AT A BANQUET OF THE OFFICERS' 

REUNION SOCIETY AT MONTPELIER IN 1894; AND 

NOTE ITS PROPHECY, IF YOU PLEASE. 

For these many years I have been puzzled to know 
why the person denominated the orator at these gather- 
ings should be listed for post prandial exercises. It is 
probably, though, more sensible to occupy one's wits 
meeting the call, than in studying reasons. 

You have done me the honor to listen to my oration 
at the State House; and now I will do you the honor to 
take you into the recesses of my meditations and 
thoughts. 

If I would have you remember anything I say, be- 
yond the present moment, it is to know the value to the 
world of the Union you assisted in saving. 

This generation rejoices that the perpetuity of the 
Nation, the integrity of the states in one government and 
the honor of the flag, in whose starry folds we have fond- 
ly enshrouded our best love, were vindicated in the war 
we recall here tonight; but following generations will 
congratulate themselves that the United States of Amer- 
ica furnished the pattern after which all government 
will, in the not far distant future, be formed. 

Republican liberty, planted two hundred odd years 
ago in the soil of New England puritanism, has become 

329 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



the light of the world and is destined to lead civilization 
throughout coming ages. Emanating from the Anglo- 
Saxon stock of that wonderful Island, the American 
branch of the family has supplied a new oil upon which 
the lamp of independent liberty burns clearer and bright- 
er than since an account has been kept of the centuries. 
This lamp will so continue to burn while the American 
Republic trims and lights it. Sometimes I think we are 
unmindful of the changes through which we are passing 
and of the responsibility of our position among the na- 
tions of the earth. 

It is a great thing to live in an age of such progress 
and it is a greater thing to realize the fact. It is a sad 
thing to live behind the spirit and purpose of any age. 
Some act as though the surroundings of the present were 
always as we behold them and do not even breathe an 
expression of gratitude that the pilgrim fathers, here in 
this new world of wonderful wonders, set a new beacon 
for the direction of mankind. 

The Civil war was not an accident, it was intended 
as an assurance to the future of free government every- 
where. It was the final adjustment of those things ac- 
complishing, shall I say a change of front of the world 
and from its finish on into the future are we to deal with 
new problems. 

Early in the history of this country all were 
laborers and by the sweat of the brow did all eat 
bread. The relations one to another of labor and capital, 
are new designs upon the trestle board of statesmanship. 
The sons of toil are asking to break bread with the sons 
of wealth upon a basis of justice and some plan of right. 
This is a living question of the times. In the industrial 
expansion and adjustment of our country care must be 
taken of all the elements of development. 

330 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



The next National crisis will appear along the line 
of controversy between labor and capital. In this conten- 
tion the fate of the country will depend upon an intelli- 
gent, unselfish patriotism, able to hold its course in the 
strife against socialism and anarchy; and it will also de- 
pend, more than is thought today, upon the justice with 
which the rights of the laborer are regarded. 

Unionized labor unwittingly begets anarchy. The 
anarchist first belongs to a union; and not satisfied with 
the progress of unionism, bolts and goes the whole figure 
of death and destruction. 

Unionized labor of all classes will ere long cover the 
country as the waters the deep; and will be able to con- 
trol business as the cat the mouse. 

The intelligence that rudders the future ship of state 
must emanate from the school house. Keep then, the 
school house door open to that thought, which teaches 
economical industry and regards a proper relation of cap- 
ital to the great American system of progressive develop- 
ment, as found in the expanding rights of labor. Let the 
American school house impress upon the American 
youth that the American's first duty is to America and 
all its interests and that America's opportunities in the 
great race of her unparalleled growth should be first for 
Americans and second for those who appreciate them 
most. And this includes all, the high and low, the rich 
and poor alike. The laborer and the capitalist. 

Gathered as we are, the echo of a time when the Re- 
public was in danger, it cannot be regarded unprofitable 
to glance at the danger signals of the future. May the 
flag over the school house float an unmistakable harbin- 
ger of better society, better order, a more wholesome re- 
gard for law, a broader patriotism and an even handed 
justice to all, the laborer and capitalist alike, within our 
borders. 

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT BURLINGTON TO THE VERMONT REGI- 
MENT UPON ITS DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT, 
IN THE SPANISH WAR 

Vermont has never lacked men. In her early days 
she had an Allen, a Warner, a Baker, a Chittenden and a 
host of other similar characters who put in her founda- 
tions, civil and military, and put them in to stay. She 
has since in all respects had men and women to promote 
her interests and sustain her welfare. 

These men and women form a constituency the 
equal of any known to the world and they always have 
made and I expect always will make up a manhood and 
womanhood high above the average. We do not claim 
to have everything at the best in Vermont, but we rank 
well comparatively with any community and take us all 
in all are we not hard to beat? This is because we do 
not depend upon a few men but upon all our people. 
Vermont in the Civil War did not reach the high position 
she occupied because of her officers alone, but because 
of the rank and file as well. Her officers were splendid 
soldiers and every soldier was fit for an officer; hence 
her proud record in that war. 

The regiment about to leave the State to take a hand 
in war, is a splendid organization of true Vermont man- 
hood and will acquit itself in true Vermont style. No 
one fears in this particular and expectation runs high as 
to deportment in camp and behavior on the field. 

You are going to fight in a cause nearer the heart of 
humanity than any that has engaged the attention of the 
world for years. You offer your services an unselfish 
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom and humanity. Co- 
lumbus discovered the new world and you are going 
forth into a darkness deeper than he explored to discover 

332 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



a better civilization for its occupants and, if necessary, to 
drive Spanish barbarism where Satan drove the swine. 

It is said Vermont is in this war, and I should say 
she is, and in it all over. This proud little State leads 
the way in all noble undertakings. A Montpelier boy is 
the conquering hero of today; his modesty won the 
greatest victory of history over in Manila Bay, and won 
it in the most heroic, masterly way, so different from 
other naval triumphs; and why shall not another Mont- 
pelier boy lead our brave regiment to that honor its 
grand material and worthy metal deserves. The State 
reposes confidence in Col. Clark and his gallant soldiers; 
the prayers of our people will follow him and his com- 
mand on the march, in camp, in hospital and on the field; 
and may the great goodness of God sustain them in all 
manly, soldierly endeavors. 

My brave boys, you will find as you enter the ser- 
vice, a more destructive foe than the bullet; habits and 
temptations, private and public, will prove strong adver- 
saries; and each officer and man should know himself as 
God knows him; should know himself with a knowledge 
that includes conviction, character and duty, for only 
with such knowledge will your career accomplish a com- 
plete conquest, in which, serving and suffering for hu- 
manity's sake, the flag shall float where freedom calls 
and the trumpet sound no retreat. 



333 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT BURLINGTON TO THE REGIMENT ON ITS 

RETURN FROM CHICKAMAUGA FROM 

THE SPANISH WAR 

Four months since war was declared between this 
country and Spain. The President called for troops to 
serve in that war. The legislature was summoned in 
session extraordinary to provide the troops from this- 
state with an extra seven dollars a month. 

A regiment was tendered the general government 
and in due time out of the many who offered themselves, 
you and your comrades were organized and accepted as 
the 1st Vt. Vol. Infantry. 

A portion of you were of the National Guard and had 
the wherewithal to be equipped for active service; the 
balance of you had to await supply in this respect and 
you were, immediately upon muster in, ordered into 
camp at Chickamauga. You were then U. S. soldiers, 
your Colonel no longer took orders from Derby, but from 
Washington. Your Governor's request that you should 
be put in full readiness for the field before you left the 
state was met with the assurance that you would be thus 
prepared as speedily as possible and that such work 
could be more expeditiously done in the camp to which 
you were going than here. Recalling however, the 
course of such work during the Civil War when the 
troops were generally equipped in the state, but by the 
general government, it was undertaken to have you thus 
seasonably prepared, but the War Department ordered 
otherwise and you went forth as you were, a splendid 
body of men ready to serve your country wherever duty 
called. You were followed by the prayers of the people 
of this state that the goodness of God preserve and re- 
turn you. Your Governor asked your officers to advise 
him from time to time of your condition that every need- 

334 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



•ed thing might be supplied. You waited patiently for 
delayed equipment, and as to active service, the state did 
not request in any particular, but did say to the War De- 
partment that our people expected the Vermont regi- 
ment to do its duty and desired it sent wherever needed,, 
leaving place of service with the authorities at Washing- 
ton. You were three months at Camp Thomas and 
when you were no longer needed for field duty the Secre- 
tary of War was requested to return you to Camp Olym- 
pia and he was also requested when you were no longer 
needed for war purposes to muster you out. And on the 
27th instant he and the President were requested to give 
you a 30 days' furlough before muster out which was 
granted. 

In outline then you have your record in the war with 
Spain in which you can see the interest, sympathy and 
love of the people you have represented. 

The war is over and you will soon return to civil life. 
You have undergone privations and disappointments in 
the service you have rendered, army life is very different 
from home life, and while you have not stood on the bat- 
tle line you have none the less done your full duty and 
none have done more. You were the first to go and you 
are the first to return to your friends. You have per- 
formed nobly every task given you. You went as far as 
you could go and were eager to go further, so you return 
with the proud consciousness of duty done. 

We welcome you in this return, proud of the service 
you have rendered and of the peace you have so patriot- 
ically assisted in securing. 

Those of your number who went to return not are 
affectionately remembered. The memory of the brave 
dead has the lasting gratitude of a loving people. You 
return, my brave boys, to the friendships, the kindred 
and the homes of a grateful state and the applause of an 
appreciative future awaits you. 

335 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT THE DEDICATION OF THE HASKELL 
LIBRARY, DERBY LINE, VERMONT 

This is an auspicious occasion, not only for today 
but for time to come. A community provided with 
churches and schools is favored; but when provided with 
a public library it is all the more favored. Keep the 
school house door open and the doors of other houses of 
head and heart culture will be of easy access. 

This international community, composed of people 
from the best town in the best state of the United States; 
and the best township in the Dominion of Canada, appre- 
ciates the importance of the most generous gift it has 
ever been called to acknowledge and right cordially 
and thankfully is the acknowledgment made. 

It is noble to give a library, more noble still to give a 
temple where the most excellent of all fraternities can 
fraternize and worship, and most generous to give a 
house where entertainment and instruction can be found 
for lovers of music and impersonated art. Altogether 
this gift is calculated to cultivate, broaden and strength- 
en the best in our civilization. 

It is fortunate for the world that Peabody, Carnegie 
and other great givers have lived and do live; and it is 
fortunate for this people that Martha Stewart Haskell 
lives. It is grand to build for the future, to aid in dissem- 
inating knowledge, in elevating the downtrodden and 
strengthening the cords of life; and for these things and 
for many others will future generations bless her mem- 
ory. Educational uplifts to soul, mind and body make 
better men and women, protecting society against anar- 
chy. Nothing does more than the public library to dis- 
pel ignorance and establish knowledge among the mass- 
es. It is by enlightening the mind and softening the 

336 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



heart that the future may hope for broader patriotism, a 
better government and a safer society. The more Ubra- 
ries, the better, and in the sincerest gratitude is the do- 
nor of this public benefaction to be thanked and the re- 
cipients of this great favor to be congratulated and may 
the world grow better as time moves on. 

The accumulation of large fortunes and the combina- 
tion of large interests are just now engaging the atten- 
tion of the world; but we need not be alarmed at these 
financial-industrial movements, when along with them 
come the princely gifts of the time for one public bene- 
fit or another, so much calculated to improve humanity. 
Girard gave a college for the education of the orphans of 
Philadelphia, a class that would otherwise have remained 
in ignorance. Amour gave an institute of technology in 
Chicago for the education of certain classes that could 
not otherwise be educated. Rockefeller founded a Uni- 
versity which is a standing invitation to millions to come 
up higher. Commodore Vanderbilt established a college 
for the education of the colored people, which is doing 
much good and stands a grand monument to his generos- 
ity in the city of Nashville. Astor gave the other day 
$50,000 for charities in London. I am then not alarmed 
at the great aggregations of wealth so common nowa- 
days; when I see the millions poured out for the benefit 
of the world in all its phases of life. 

It takes money to build railroads, steamship lines 
and industrial factories; and what could the world do 
without them? They employ the millions, furnishing 
bread instead of vice to all who prefer work to idleness. 
It takes millions to establish and endow institutions of 
learning without which the world would revolve in dark- 
ness. So then be not pessimistic at the incoming mil- 



337 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



lions called wealth, while so many millions are going out 
for charity, education and religion. 

I believe in progress, growth and development; 
whether educational, civic or religious; and the great 
moving power of all is found in the industrial and trans- 
portation forces of the world. 

Believe, then, that the world moves; and that the 
millions required to move it are constantly coming in and 
going out; and that it is more blessed to go out than 
come in; and also believe that God's love and justice 
overrules all for ultimate good. 



338 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



SPEECH AT THE BANQUET OF THE VERMONT 

OFFICERS REUNION SOCIETY AT 

MONTPELIER IN 1896 

For more than a generation I have attended these 
gatherings and heard from many an executive pleasant 
words concerning our beloved state and her relation to 
our equally beloved Society. In every instance I have 
thought how suitably I could speak under similar circum- 
stances, but, alas, as usual, the anticipatory was much 
the easier, 

I knew I would speak at this banquet. It is one of 
the pleasant duties I have been waiting patiently these 
many years to perform. Many a time I have been here 
in the past with my pockets full of speeches of the high- 
est conceivable type, in manifold print all ready for the 
reporter, but no one knew the important fact outside the 
family. 

I have waited with the greatest fortitude for this 
chance, though of course this time not as well prepared 
as at other times, and yet, behold, the other day, as 
though it would be news, I received an official announce- 
ment that I would respond on this occasion to the toast, 
Vermont; that I must boil down what I said, have it 
pointed, pungent, possibly humorous, dignified, sensible, 
and not over five minutes in length. 

I knew the inexorable character of the hand writing,, 
and obedience came most naturally, after what I have 
passed through, to render this calling sure and the an- 
nouncement unnecessary, so I besought all the boihng, 
pointed, witty, brief, dignified methods of speech-making, 
and started the typewriter to give you my best. 

Two years ago, many of you will recollect how my 

339 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



esteemed predecessor lost his way in attempting to re- 
spond to this sentiment, and with a happy story an- 
nounced a candidacy for re-election. The announce- 
ment grated harshly upon my ear, and I thought him the 
next thing to an insane man, but now, beholding no long- 
er through a glass darkly, it seems different. 

Governor Woodbury said he was a candidate for re- 
election, but he failed. And so, sharing in his most nat- 
ural feeling and wishing to make a success of it, trusting 
somewhat to the luck of opposites, I most cheerfully 
make it known that I am not a candidate. I shall anx- 
iously await the echo of this announcement. 

Comrades, Vermont, delighting in the patriotic mem- 
ories of '61-'65, greets you this evening with a love as de- 
voted as that which followed you through the war. 

Our little state, great in so many things, is prouder 
of her soldiers than anything else. Strange as it may 
seem, the heroism of arms commands the deepest re- 
spect of the human heart. 

The trophies of war and the fruits of peace are 
placed, by a grateful people, a willing offering at your 
feet, expressive of that gratitude which wearies not in 
recognizing the valor of thirty-five years ago. A valor 
that assured unity of the states, perpetuity of the Nation 
and honor for the flag, all of which you fought to secure. 

It is not my purpose to dwell upon the resourceful 
subject assigned me and shall attempt no eulogy upon 
Vermont, but, personally, and for the State I have the 
great honor to represent, would I tender you the kind re- 
gards already suggested and as many more of a similar 
character as the heart can conceive upon an occasion 
like this, and gladly make way for other more worthy 
speakers. 



340 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



REMARKS AT BARRE IN 1896, INTRODUCING GENERAL 

GORDON, U. S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA, FOR 

THE DELIVERY OF ONE OF HIS LECTURES 

I count it fortunate that many political divergencies 
of the past have become the common trend of the present. 

A generation since the North sent southward brave 
soldiers in blue and the South sent northward brave sol- 
diers in grey. 

They met and heroically discussed the great ques- 
tion, for the supremacy of which they went forth to con- 
tend; on that middle ground known as the battle field. 
Those battle fields quaked and trembled beneath the 
roar, rattle and angry clamor of the noisy, reverberating 
arguments then used. 

When the marching, counter marching and battle ar- 
ray of the strife were over; at Appomatox, the sword of 
war changed from one brave hand to another and the 
gentle watch-word, "Let us have peace," passed in whis- 
pered accents from lip to lip all over a free land. 

Vermont had brave sons in that great debating soci- 
ety and so had Georgia; they are delighted to meet to- 
night, knowing that the differences of that gigantic dis- 
cussion have merged into unity, Nation, loyalty and Flag. 

We have with us, from one of the most progressive 
states in our beautiful southland; a brave soldier, an or- 
ator and a gentleman: whose reputation is historic, 
whose purposes are patriotic and who believes that one 
fiag should dominate from the lakes to the gulf and from 
ocean to ocean. It is my pleasure to welcome him to 
Vermont and the fellowship of Vermont veterans; a 
goodly number of whom are present; and to extend to 
him the warm grasp of the hand and kindly love of the 
heart. 

Allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to present for your 
kind consideration, Gen. John B. Gordon alias United 
States Senator John B. Gordon, who hails from a larger 
place than Georgia; and who will tell you about the last 
days of the confederacy. 

341 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT BENNINGTON IN 1897, RECEIVING FOR 
THE STATE AND BENNINGTON BATTLE MON- 
UMENT ASSOCIATION, MONUMENTS AND 
MARKERS OF THE BENNINGTON 
BATTLE FIELD 

History points to no greater love of country than 
Vermonters have shown, A people conceived in patri- 
otism, born in adversity and nurtured by resistance to 
aggression, naturally love the homes they acquire. 

Our great little state is a striking illustration or per- 
haps you may say demonstration of courage, fortitude 
and hardship asserted in its early history by heroic 
diplomacy, original statesmanship and tireless energy. 

Upon such conditions it has made a reputation with 
which we may well be satisfied and in which the world 
manifests a growing interest. 

Our early life led us to an independence bold and 
free, with a form of government unique and just, rather 
than surrender which, our forefathers, led by Allen, 
Warner and Baker, declared they would retire to the 
caves of the mountains "and wage eternal war with na- 
ture." 

The spirit of this independence and the justice of 
this government constitute our dear little green mount- 
ain commonwealth, the Vermont of 1897; and these char- 
acteristics stand out in boldness and freedom which chal- 
lenge universal admiration. 

Today we enjoy recalling some of those incidents 
which gave us our happy life and interesting character. 

We are on historic ground, in the midst of monu- 
ments reminding us of heroism and sacrifice in that 
great contention devoted to securing the best in liberty 
and human government. 

342 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



The great monument on the hill stands for the bat- 
tle field on which Vermonters voluntarily fought, to show 
their attitude toward the revolutionary struggle and that 
they loved the cause of the republic; also to show knaves 
and speculators from whatever quarter they might come, 
that when they ruled o'er their lands, they would rule 
o'er their graves. 

Long may that shaft stand piercing the blue sky of 
God's eternal home in honor of that noble action and 
those brave, noble actors. 

Here too is a monument telling where the patriots, 
who fell on that battle field, are buried; also indicating 
the last sleeping place of the Hessians of that contest. 

If the Hessians had not been here the Vermonters 
would not. So in a sense, are we not under obligations 
to Burgoyne's unfortunate movement up this valley 120 
years ago for the glory we would commemorate by this 
occasion? 

We also see here a marker showing the traveler 
where the brave Stark baptized his fiery soul for the on- 
set of that fierce battle and announced the conditions of 
widowhood for his dear Mollie. 

Last but not least we see the lithe catamount with 
countenance defying the encroachments of that time 
when his duty required him to face the greedy Yorker, 
to earnestly protest against his unwarrantable aggres- 
sions and smile with a watchful blandness upon the wist- 
ful movements of other contiguous neighbors. 

The great concernments of the patriots were consid- 
ered in the old catamount tavern of which this snarling, 
wild brute was the significant sign; and the drastic en- 
actments of those considerings promptly enforced, al- 
ways received, we are told, the gracious approval of this 
agile king of the forest. 

343 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



These smaller monuments so suitable and sugges- 
tive are offered the Bennington Battle Monument Asso- 
ciation and the State; which offering is hereby on behalf 
of the donees, appreciatingly accepted; thus placing them 
all under one responsibility and the public under a com- 
mon obligation to the generous donors. 

Congratulating the happy village of Bennington up- 
on the success of this occasion, the historic honors that 
circle so proudly about its hills and nestle so quietly in 
its beautiful valleys, I desire to assure its good people 
that all Vermont feels a just pride and desires a share in 
the interesting memories awakened by these patriotic 
ceremonies. 



344 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



SPEECH AT A MEETING OF THE VERMONT VET- 
ERANS IN BOSTON AT YOUNG S HOTEL, 
BOSTON, IN 1898 

Such occasions as this campfire blaze carry us back 
to war times, cultivate affection among the living and 
keep fresh the memory of the dead; they recall the 
camp, the march, the bivouac and refight the battle; 
they replenish the fires of liberty for whose brighter 
burning the soldier fought; they renew the hand-shake, 
the elbow touch and that fellowship bom of sacrifice 
and devotion; they retouch the fadeless glories of your 
heroism; they strengthen the balance of life's journey 
and impress coming generations with the earnestness and 
importance of the Civil War. 

You easily recall the firing upon the Star of the 
West, the bombardment of Fort Sumpter and the elec- 
trical effect the news of its surrender had upon the 
North. 

You also remember the magical response to the first 
call for troops; instead of 75,000, a half million brave 
men sprang to arms; coming from field, shop, school and 
store, as so many northern lights, to dissipate the dark- 
ness of those dismal days and tender the administration 
support. 

You heard the prayers of those days breathing the 
Union forever and the united voice of the North shouting 
as from the Wilderness, "We are coming. Father Abra- 
ham, five hundred thousand strong." 

You have in mind the earnest crowds that gathered, 
singing national airs, raising the flag on the village green, 
whispering with bated breath the news from the front, 
holding war meetings of fathers, mothers, sisters, broth- 

345 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ers; deliberately discussing the all absorbing thought; 
and then enlisting. As though but yesterday you can 
see the mother giving up her son, the sister the brother, 
the wife the husband, the child the father and the ar- 
mies of these patriotic offerings rendezvousing along the 
Potomac, the Ohio and the Tennessee. 

You saw too the defiant South marching forth with 
flying banners to divide the Union and the determined 
North, everywhere gathering to avert its division. 

You saw the issues of that great contest joined in 
deadly conflict, the overbearing demands and bullying 
threats of thirty years crystalize into a war in which the 
best blood of the land ran like water and the nation's 
gold was poured out like sand. 

For four years you saw armies composed of the best 
manhood known to civilization contend against each 
other over national perpetuity. 

You saw campaigns planned, battles fought, armies 
victorious, officers and men brave and above all you saw 
the imperishable record of Vermont in the war, as it was 
made from day to day during those tragic months and 
years. New every morning and fresh every evening as 
these reflections are, I must not dwell upon them for 
they have at divers times and in various ways been pre- 
sented to your attention. I have another thought which 
I wish to offer and leave for your kind consideration. 

The seventh day from now will be the birthday of 
Washington and the third day since was the birthday of 
Lincoln. So we are between the days of the month on 
which were born two great men. The founder and de- 
fender of the republic. 

When the great wars these men led to successful 
conclusions will have shriveled to a speck in the memory 



346 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



of the world they will stand in luminous transfiguration 
for the cause they so ably represented. 

Their contemporaries may drop through the sieve of 
time but the more you shake the lives of these men ih 
that great screen the less danger there is that they will 
ever pass through. They will continue foremost among 
great Americans while the Union they created and saved 
endures. 

Washington and Lincoln have been compared and 
contrasted but forever will they stand side by side as the 
founder and preserver of the first government on earth 
"of the people, by the people and for the people." 

History has its great characters which like torches 
illuminate the past but the character torch that burns 
for the future as well as the past burns the best and the 
one that burns the best burns the longest. 

Washington and Lincoln stand conspicuously on the 
hilltop of the best government on earth beckoning thith- 
erward to the masses struggling for liberty in all parts 
of the world. 

If possible Lincoln's work was greater than Washing- 
ton's for had he failed republican liberty would have 
failed. 

Comrades, you assisted in saving the Union not for 
yourselves but for the world. You saved the Union as 
an inspiration to the cowering masses of despotism. 

Your courage demonstrated the self preserving pow- 
er of free government. 

No one comprehended the consequences of failure 
more clearly than Mr. Lincoln. He rose superbly to the 
performance of all the tasks of that great time. Long 
live the memories of these plain, patriotic men; having 
nobly performed their duty they rest in the glory of 



m 



347 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



death, the republic's greatest Presidents, greatest Pa- 
triots, greatest Statesmen and the world's greatest Con- 
querors. Let their words, purposes and deeds be known 
in every home, every school book and every school 
house in the land, teaching right, liberty, truth, and hon- 
esty. Comrades, we cannot over study the lives of 
Washington and Lincoln. Their characters give lustre 
to the republic and make it noble to uphold the flag. 



348 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



SPEECH AT BOSTON IN 1897. AT THE BANQUET OF 
THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 
SONS OF VERMONT 

You are the sons and daughters of an uncommon 
people and naturally, find yourselves occasionally in so- 
cial gatherings appreciating this interesting fact. 

Your ancestry came honestly by their characteris- 
tics and were historic from the nature of their surround- 
ings. 

Early in the history of the colonization of the West- 
ern Hemisphere, your native State was the battle ground 
of the forces contending for empire on this continent; 
the field over which they marched and countermarched 
in that contest, until the controversy was settled in favor 
of the English, before the walls of Quebec. 

You were born on soil no power owned until a brave 
band of hardy pioneer settlers, your great grandparents, 
occupied it and made homes out of its mountain wilder- 
nesses and dedicated them to those great puritanic ideals; 
liberty, love and purity. 

This region; so long the echo of war, thus became 
homes of peace; and the brave men, who with ax and 
hoe had founded; and with rifle and life had defended; 
one hundred and twenty-one years ago; declared it a free 
and independent State; free of king, congress and every 
earthly power; owing allegiance only to God and obeying 
only laws of their own enacting. 

This Godfearing, liberty loving independency was 
put under the authority of a constitution which is sub- 
stantially the organic law of your native state today. 

This constitution, older than the constitution of any 

349 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



other state, older than the National Constitution, was a 
model in the art of constitution making. A government 
was soon organized under it, with an army, offensive and 
defensive; without which independence would have been 
impudence; also with executive and judicial depart- 
ments; and this little government was the first power on 
earth to prohibit human slavery by constitutional provi- 
sion; and accord religious liberty to every conscience 
within its jurisdiction; one of its early judges holding 
that it would require a bill of sale signed by the Al- 
mighty, in his Court, to remand a fugitive slave to his 
master. 

On such an independent footing of industrious, cour- 
ageous homes; stood the land of your fathers, carrying 
its own mails, coining its own money, defending its own 
rights for years; at last fighting its way into the Union 
of which it has ever been a consistent member, a ready 
defender and in which proud sisterhood it is easily rec- 
ognized, the star that never sets; or to put it in another 
way and perhaps get it nearer right; your native State 
stood all those years of menace and encroachment the 
embodiment of liberty, an earnest exponent of the best, 
finally annexing the other thirteen of whose welfare she 
has ever been solicitous and in whose affairs she has al- 
ways taken an active part. 

In brief outline you can see the courage, the devo- 
tion and freedom from the loins of which you sprang. 

In giving to the world Vermont government, Ver- 
mont life and Vermont character your ancestors record- 
ed the sublimest of human conduct. It is entirely excep- 
tional in history; that so few with so little, against so 
many with so much; should demonstrate government so 
just, life so brave and character so noble. 

I knew you would want to know how it happens 

350 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



that you have so good an opinion of your native State 
and everyone has so good an opinion of you. 

Now that you know why you are what you are; and 
know the proper source to thank for the success you en- 
joy; let us refer to your contests and conquests; for 
when children leave home and build a superstructure of 
life and character with which they are satisfied and of 
which the friends are proud, especially if it is accom- 
plished in the city of Boston, they always like to tell the 
parents how they did it and the parents Uke to hear how 
it was done. 

In referring to these contests and conquests I hope 
you will not forget where you were born nor how you 
were reared. Do not forget that home among your 
native hills, where you first saw the light of day, re- 
ceived the first kiss, the first fondling and the first whip- 
ping; where you placed your hand trustingly in your 
dear mother's for that walk you have not yet finished; 
where you heard the first prayer and those sermons of 
divisions and sub-divisions to the eighth degree; where 
you played, hunted, fished, chored and tramped away 
through the knee-deep snow to the red school house on 
the hill. Do not forget any of these childhood associa- 
tions and tuitions for they have been guide boards keep- 
ing you in the narrow way. 

Don't forget either that Vermont is a good state to 
be born in and to live in, you can attest the former and I 
can attest the latter of these assertions. Our air is pure, 
our hills are green, our soil is fertile, our women are 
beautiful, our horses are handsome, our maple sugar is 
sweet and our men all know how to care for themselves. 
What is the matter then with Vermont? 

Celebrated for its men, its productive capacity in 
this respect is like the fountain of love or the hillside 

351 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Spring; the more it is used the more abundant and the 
better the supply. So true it is that when you and thou- 
sands of others scattered in all parts of the country left 
us; we did not seriously miss you, your places being so 
quietly filled. How much disturbance would be created 
were you withdrawn from your adopted community I 
will not say. 

The able educators in this presence may not speak 
or the red school house I have asked you not to forget. 
Excuse me then, if I turn aside to enter that little institu- 
tion for competitive mention among the educational fea- 
tures of your native State. The common scnool of Ver- 
mont has graduated many men and women who have 
stood for her past and stand for her present; as a twig 
bender and tree incliner it should not be overlooked. It 
is the doorway of the Academy, the campus of the Uni- 
versity of Nature and the steady burning light of the 
College. 

I know it has not had a team, or crew, or nine; and 
yet it has made clear and easy the way of many Ver- 
monter's lives among whom can be counted the brightest 
and strongest. 

Broader than theory, more practical than any appli- 
cation of it, this plain mannered school is the Alma Ma- 
ter of general success. Let the district school, where 
you read, spelled and ciphered, have a warm place in 
your memory; it has been the educational guidance in 
what many of you have done; is the resort of the masses 
and the hope of the future. May it be kept as good as it 
has been, for it will ever be the common gateway into 
life. 

Last but not least, do not forget that Vermont is a 
good State to emigrate from in the sense that such a fact 



352 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



furnishes a splendid certificate of character, available 
wherever you go. 

In yielding to others more worthy to occupy your 
time, allow me to congratulate you upon the success fa- 
voring your earthly lot. May health and peace be with 
you to the end. Your mother State remembers you ten- 
derly. 

Allow me also to thank the officers and members of 
this society for the respect they have so kindly shown 
their native State by the personal courtesies to me and 
mine as representatives of that people we all love so 
well. 



353 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT A MEETING OF THE NEW ENGLAND 

GOVERNORS IN 1898, UPON THE MATTER 

OF NEW ENGLAND EXHIBITS AT THE 

PARIS EXPOSITION, IN 1900 

Vermont rises to acknowledge the honor of being 
Massachusetts' guest at this magnificent banquet, where, 
unlike the great feast of Belshazzar, the eating and drink- 
ing have been to the right purpose. 

A century or more ago, before the handwriting on 
the wall was properly understood, Vermonters were not 
accepting such invitations as have brought them here to- 
night from any of their neighbors. 

Long since, however, and happily the grim visaged 
front of those stormy years was smoothed and we have 
learned to respect the commercial enterprise of Boston 
and admire the genius of a people that adorns civiliza- 
tion with such a model commonwealth. 

Perhaps we would be stronger if we remained more 
at home and depended more upon ourselves, the philoso- 
phy of protection would thus advise, but you have things 
so captivatingly nice and such a winsome way of doing 
everything here at the "Hub," that somehow, almost un- 
consciously, we visit you and trade with you as though 
we loved you, without really ever knowing just how you 
do feel toward us. 

This gathering is in the interest of New England 
commerce and to ascertain how the Northeast corner of 
our great diversified country can appear to the best ad- 
vantage at the Parisian Exposition, in 1900. 

France, on that occasion, will want to see us as we 
are at home, so as to know the truth of Dr. Franklin's es- 
timate of America as stated in that toast of which you 
have all heard and just as soon hear again. At a cele- 

354 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



brated banquet where international courtesies were in 
order, they ran this way; the Englishman said, "Here is 
to England, the sun that lights the world;" the French- 
man said, "Here is to France, the moon that controls the 
tides of the universe," and Dr. Frankhn, with but little 
seemingly left to say, said, "Here is to the United States 
of America, the Joshua who commanded the sun and 
• moon to stand still and they obeyed." 

This country, in that great exposition of the world's 
wonders should be so represented as to convince that she 
is indeed a Joshua with power to command; and fore- 
most in that convincing representation, as was seen in 
the establishment of independence and liberty on this 
continent, should be seen New England with her splen- 
did manufactures, her interesting products and her at- 
tractive exhibits, as an exemplification of the best from 
the new world. 

In entering upon a new century the world should 
know the wonderful development of Columbus' discov- 
ery, the marvel of the old century. It should know the 
dignity of republican government; it should know the 
power of peace and peaceful agencies; it should know 
the blessings of. industry; it should know the love of .a 
civilization born of Uberty; it should know the universal- 
ity of our education and the Christianity of our religion; 
it should know the glory that circles around and the hon- 
or that crowns the undertakings of a free people. 

How can we convince in these interesting particu- 
lars better than by exhibiting the fruitage of our wonder- 
ful life; and will not that great aggregation of civiliza- 
tions called the world, when it knows these things as we 
do, respect their origin and the flag that symbolizes them 
and emblemizes the freest freedom of earth, that flag to 
which we bow, under which we march to victory and in 
the sacred folds of which our richest memories are en- 
shrouded. 

355 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



SPEECH AT THE NEWPORT CITY WELCOME, GIVEN THE 
RETURNED WORLD WAR SOLDIERS, JUNE 3rd, 1919 

This auspicious occasion greets and welcomes the 
returned soldiers of the World War. It greets their re- 
turn with the warmest congratulations; and welcomes 
them to the love of their homes. 

This greeting and this welcoming is by the people of 
the City of Newport, the County of Orleans, the State of 
Vermont and the United States of America. 

Every American heart pulsates with joy and glad- 
ness that the World War Soldiers have come home. 

Those who do not return are enshrouded in a grate- 
ful memory; and their bereaved friends have the deep- 
est sympathy of every American. 

To this glad welcome the Civil War Veterans desire 
to add their welcome. A half century and more ago 
they were Johnnies marching home. They know what 
this change means; and they wish you a happy return to 
the lives you left behind when you enlisted. 

You were called to serve your country, to which call 
you nobly responded, did your duty, have been mustered 
out and returned to civil life. From this on to your dy- 
ing day you will esteem the service you rendered in the 
World War the greatest honor of your lives. 

Your Revolutionary ancestry fought for democracy 
and established here on the Western Hemisphere the 
first democratic government of history. 

Your Civil War ancestry fought for the preservation 
of that democratic government; and to test whether it 
"or any similar government could long endure." 

You fought that all government should become and 
be democratic; and the world is now busy finding and 
making a way for democracy the world over. 

356 



SPEECHES UPON OCCASIONS 



Your proud service, my young friends, has been in 
placing the cap stone upon the monument of world wide 
liberty and freedom. 

You have been in France safeguarding her national 
danger, and why not? France once safeguarded our na- 
tional danger. 

Let us never forget our obligations to the Republic 
of France; and to our democratic children struggling for 
national existence, wherever found upon the face of the 
earth. 

You are all young, your lives are before you; and 
will be to yourselves and the world just what you make 
them. 

You are entering upon manhood and citizenship; the 
great, important duties of which you must assume and 
discharge. Do not wait until tomorrow but decide and 
act today. Seek your opportunities wisely, carefully but 
promptly and perform well your part, for there all the 
honor lies. 

Get married and make homes. Good American 
girls are waiting for you. Meet them half way, 
join hands and hearts; and become home builders, with 
families of boys and girls who shall become the guardi- 
ans of the nation's future, the nation's civilization, the 
nation's honor and the nation's patriotism. 

You entered the war to teach the world a better hu- 
manity, a broader sympathy, a better religion and the na- 
tions a better fellowship. Stand throughout your lives 
for these great ideals and future generations will ever- 
more bless you. 

Forget not your duty as citizens, as neighbors, to 
yourselves, to your families, to your children, to your 
country you have so bravely defended; and remember 



357 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



alway the flag, the proudest banner that floats over land 
or sea. 

May you nobly meet and grandly realize all the high 
expectations centered in you. My young friends, enter 
upon a manhood of the type and character of those who 
have led the republic from its infancy and then you will 
not have encountered the dangers and endured the hard- 
ships of the service you have rendered in vain. 

Our prayers followed you to the front, into the clash 
and crash of battle and are with you still. May you keep 
faith with all the duties of your lives, so that when life's 
race is over, you can lie down to pleasant dreams; and 
be remembered as brave soldiers who faithfully served 
your country in peace and war. 

Keep in mind that there is no honor, no glory that 
equals the honor and glory of the heroism of arms. 



358 



AN OFFICE I DID NOT GET 

In 1904, a change in the collectorship of the Newport 
District was expected. I became a candidate for this of- 
fice; but before doing so I sought each of the senators 
and representatives of the Vermont delegation in Con- 
gress to know if the office was really booked for anyone, 
as was reported. Each member of the delegation inform- 
ed me clearly, squarely and fully that no one was in con- 
sideration with them, as a delegation or individually, for 
the office; that the field was as clear for me as for any- 
one; and that they would gladly hear, without prejudice, 
requests of support from the people of the State gener- 
ally; and that my chances would be influenced by such 
requests of support and the more they received of them 
in my behalf, the better it would be for me. 

Therefore, all those who were to decide the fate of 
the appointment, being entirely unprejudiced as I was 
led to believe, and promising to act impartially and fair- 
ly as to all applications; and decide according to the 
strength of popular recommendations that the respective 
candidates might secure in their behalf, and not accord- 
ing to the politician's behest. I made a canvass of the 
State; and secured recommendations galore from every 
town in the State, had them all classified by town and 
county; and indexed, so that any name could be found in- 
stantly. This canvass was more or less expensive and oc- 
casioned a great deal of work. 

I had a tremendously strong endorsement, number- 
ing over 3000; including many of the leading public 
men of the State; and a mass gathering of the common 

359 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



people. The delegation did not question the preponder- 
ance of my support, nor its character, nor its popular 
strength, nor its respectability; but somehow the other 
fellow was appointed when the time came; and Josiah's 
only consolation was to cross over and congratulate the 
new man; upon somehow having an easier and surer 
way of doing political things; and to congratulate him- 
self upon learning that the people did not count in politi- 
cal appointments. It was all right, it is all right and for- 
ever let it be all right. Thank you. 

This is given to show how little politicians really 
know what they will do for friends. Better leave all 
such democratic matters to the democracy, of some kind 
of an election law. Yes, stand aside, my political friend, 
for the people, the common people; they know, even bet- 
ter than senators and congressmen, about previous com- 
mitments. 

William W. Grout when in Congress contended for 
a law by which the people should elect their postmas- 
ters. This, as before stated in this book, was a wise 
contention; and some day, the politicians will be compel- 
led to forego their appointive political prerogatives; and 
allow the people, just the plain people, to select the offi- 
cials who serve them. 



360 



MY FIRST CONVENTION, GEORGE F. 
EDMUNDS AND JUSTIN S. MORRILL 

The convention of all others I ever attended was 
held in Burlington early in July, 1863. It was a mass 
convention, called to nominate the Hon. John Gregory 
Smith the first time, as the Republican candidate for gov- 
ernor. I was at home because of wounds received in the 
Miskel Farm Fight; and on crutches, with the Hon. Cal- 
vin Morrill, a cousin of the Hon. Justin S., and Ex-Gov- 
ernor Erastus Fairbanks, attended this convention, rep- 
resenting the town of Kirby. 

The nominations were all made from the floor of the 
convention. No opposition appearing, the creation of a 
nominating committee, incident to contested mass con- 
ventions was unnecessary. 

The Hon. Levi Underwood was the presiding officer. 
Paul Dillingham, George F. Edmunds, C. W. Willard, F. 
E. Woodbridge, Ray Hard, John A. Page, David E. Nich- 
olson, John W. Stewart, Thomas Bartlett, Benjamin H. 
Steele, and other like men of that time participated in 
the work of the convention. 

In attendance upon this convention were Senator Ja- 
cob Collamer, Hon. S. B. Colby, Registrar of the Treas- 
ury, and the Hon. Portus Baxter, all fresh from Wash- 
ington. 

Vicksburg had just surrendered to General Grant, 
the hero of few words and many deeds, thus allowing the 
Mississippi to flow unvexed from St. Paul to the Gulf. 

361 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



The northward push of the rebellion, under the masterly 
lead of Lee, had been checked at Gettysburg. 

President Lincoln sent word by Senator Collamer 
that all seemed to be going well in the great war arena. 

The atmosphere was resonant with the echoes of 
sacrifice and triumph; and surcharged with patriotism. 

The business of the convention was done with a 
snap; and then came an unusual spell of oratory; led by 
Senator Collamer and followed by Colby, Woodbridge, 
Willard, Dillingham, Edmunds, Steele and Stewart. 

These were all able, eloquent men; filled with the 
pervading spirit of the occasion; and what they said was 
short, sharp and inspiring; affording a great feast of rea- 
son and an immense flow of soul. 

GEORGE F. EDMUNDS AND JUSTIN S. MORRILL 

Of all the men I saw at that convention and heard 
speak, not one was superior to the late George F. Ed- 
munds. He was younger than most others, but all his 
words were weighty, well placed; and all his thoughts 
well timed. It was then apparent that an illustrious ca- 
reer awaited him. His talk was trenchant, infused with 
the enthusiasm of the news from the Front and filled with 
exposure of the sham pretensions of the rebellion. 

He was easily well abreast with all the speakers; and 
knew to a dot when he was through. This was an at- 
tainment that achieved much for him in his long-time ca- 
reer in the United States Senate, the United States Su- 
preme Court; and all his distinguished forum work. 

In less than three years from this time he was ap- 
pointed by Gov. Paul Dillingham to succeed Senator Sol- 
omon Foot deceased. Governor Dillingham had only a 
few months before appointed the Hon. Luke P. Poland to 
succeed Senator Collamer, also deceased. 

362 



MY FIRST CONVENTION 



Thus Vermont had two new senators at Washington. 
Judge Poland, however, in the next election, 1866, gave 
way to the Hon. Justin S. Morrill, taking his place in the 
House. While Edmunds continued twenty-five years in 
the Senate, ranking high as a member of that honorable 
body, much of the time an acknowledged leader; and all 
the time a faithful guardian of the public welfare. 

Vermont never had in Congress an abler man than 
George F. Edmunds; and during and ever after his sena- 
torial service he was one of the great men of the country. 
He enjoyed an enviable reputation as a lawyer, ranking 
high among the leading practitioners in the U. S. Su- 
preme Court. 

He had been in the Senate but a short time when up- 
on one of the important questions growing out of recon- 
struction matters, to the surprise of all, he made a speech 
so charming and electrical in effect, that many of the sen- 
ators, including Senator Sumner, gathered around and 
gave him a congratulatory reception, an unusual occur- 
rence in case of one so fresh in the Senate. From this 
time on covering his entire work as Senator he was 
accorded courtesy and influence enjoyed by few serving 
in that body. He spoke without preparation, methodi- 
zing, reasoning and convincing as he proceeded. He 
was a remarkable instance of arranging and producing 
logic and fact on his feet. 

During his service in the Senate he had acquired an 
important practice in the United States Supreme Court; 
and not being able to suitably serve in both capacities, 
he resigned the less lucrative that he had so honor- 
ably occupied so many years, which act was much re- 
gretted by an admiring constituency. Vermont honored 
him and he honored Vermont. 



363 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



For 25 years with Morrill and Edmunds in the Sen- 
ate Vermont was most fortunate, enjoying the reputation 
of having in that body a representation unequaled by 
any other state in the Union. The one by instantaneous 
process doing the best of work; and the other by the 
most painstaking preparation doing equally as good 
work. They were a strong team, two great, noble men, 
an adornment to the Senate, appreciated by their state 
and recognized by the Nation. 

They lived and died conspicuous instances of men 
born in the country; and educated in the common 
schools. Just the common schools. 

Alas for Vermont's puritanized manhood and wom- 
anhood of eighty years ago; with her large families, her 
red school houses, her academies, her inartistic, well fill- 
ed churches, her ox teams, her thorough braced buggies, 
her fine horses and her well tilled farms: — Or will the 
Automobiles, the Aeroplanes, the Society, the Clubs, 
the Cathedrals, the magnificent churches, the Senior- 
Junior High schools, the Game and Sport ridden Col- 
leges of today bring us in the days to come a grander, 
nobler, purer, more substantial, worthy type of men and 
women. 

Remember all else is as dust, it is only the men and 
women that go on and on like the brook forever, embla- 
zoning as the centuries recede, the pages of history. 



364 



ABOUT FARMING 

In 1886, when in the full swing of farm life at Derby, 
friend David M. Camp, who was publishing and editing 
the Express and Standard at Newport, induced me to 
write some articles for publication calculated to interest 
the farmers. 

The articles I prepared for this purpose were pub- 
lished under the head of "Farmers' Corner," in that pa- 
per and a few of them are here given for such purpose 
as they may serve. 

THE farmer's calling 

The farmer has a better knowledge of what he does, 
in making his bread and butter, than of the true charac- 
ter of his calling. He is, generally speaking, so crowded 
with countless things of one kind and another, that he 
really has no time to determine the name of his doings. 
He knows that he is up early, or should be, busy all day 
and frequently until late in the evening, which he should 
not be, and then cannot keep up with his work. If he 
knows this and things are thus with him, how can he 
know much of anythmg else? A hard-worked man gets 
tired, and a tried man, in the course of nature, will al- 
ways exchange reflection for sleep, so that, as the farm- 
er's life runs, the most certain thing about it is hard 
work. The farmer don't know how independent he is, 
and what a happy calling he is pursuing. It takes the 
man of leisure to acquaint him with such facts. He 
must attend some agricultural meeting, or the county 

365 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



fair, where the professionals will glibly inform him of his 
superiority; and of his exalted standing among men. 
For the first time probably in his life, he begins, in the 
midst of such oily-tongued, sweet-toned surroundings, to 
swell with the consequence of his importance; and from 
such an enlargement of idea and impression, enjoys life 
somewhat, until he finds himself again bending under 
the cares and toil of his farm work; when, tired as usual, 
he sleeps instead of thinking; and so it is with the farm- 
er from year to year, while the more genteel of the world 
think, plan and scheme for themselves first and for the 
farmers afterward. 

Now, my farmer friends, have you ever taken time 
to think and know, for deep thinking soon becomes know- 
ledge, that you are the producers of all that all the rest 
of the world live on; and the producers of nearly all that 
all the rest make their money out of? Have you thought 
that you are the power behind the throne in this matter; 
and yet you allow the dapper chaps of leisure to sly 
around and get pretty much all away from you. Safe it 
is to say that they do not make a fair division with you; 
they take the lion's share; they get away with the loaf 
and leave you the crumbs. The operators, the mer- 
chants, and all such, kith and kin, are richer than the 
farmers; and since all these things are what they are 
from a division with you of what you produce, it must be 
the division is unequal and unjust. Then, farmers, be- 
take yourselves to reflection, to a knowledge of your 
rights, and to a better realization of them, which will be 
more surely found in a better knowledge of your calling 
than in anything else. When you have done this the 
independence, the exaltation, and the happiness 
of the farmer's life, will appear within your own 
vision and you will know as you are known. 

366 



ABOUT FARMING 



The farmer is apt to be too contented, too self- 
f satisfied with what he has and what he is. The farmer 
is apt to be too slow in accepting changes and adopting 
improvements. The farmer is apt to be too penurious in 
the matter of public expenditures for agricultural im- 
provement. He will vote the professors a college, the 
railroad kings a railroad, and will vote liberally for all 
manner of public concerns, but never a cent for the ad- 
vancement of farming. He is too apt to think the farm- 
er already is enjoying the ultimatum of agricultural 
methods and ways; and how willing the shrewd ones of 
life's other callings are to take him at his thought, 
realizing all the advantage in the taking. 

Let us, then, take hold of this matter afresh and see 
if we cannot keep more nearly even with the rest of the 
world. 

THE CITY AND COUNTRY 

There is not a little feeling in the cities that they 
have life in a better form than can be found in the coun- 
try. May be the city folk do not think they are any more 
comfortable than their country cousins, but their order of 
living is at least seemingly finer and on a somewhat better 
level. They evidently feel that they have better opportu- 
nities for knowledge and probably know just a little 
more; that they dress better, appear better and, general- 
ly speaking, are of more consequence in the world. 

Now, we of the country do not really care how these 
features of life are. We admit that city people secure 
better fits and are more dapper in personal appearance, 
read more daily papers, and pass current for a neater 
style of humanity than can well be supported in the coun- 
try. We would not detract in the least from the advan- 
tages of city or town life, yet for the best life on earth 

367 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



take the free open country; where the winds are pure, 
the skies are clear, the fields are fruitful, the houses are 
comfortable, the cattle are thrifty and the people are hap- 
py. Such a life is sweeter, broader, deeper, higher, 
grander and infinitely better than any hived-up city or 
town life on the face of the earth. So much for the way 
they feel and the way we feel on a subject that is not 
very interesting anyway. It is difficult though to see 
how any home can be pleasanter and happier than a 
well-ordered farm home. It is never the case that any 
home is more comfortable, or supplied with a better ta- 
ble. Now, since we are scoring so patriotically for the 
farm, the farmer and the farmer's home, it is to be hoped 
he will fully sustain the reputation we are trying truth- 
fully and fairly to give him and his possessions. 

The country is a better place to rear children than 
the city, notwithstanding good city mothers are so thank- 
ful their children have such excellent opportunities for 
becoming men and women. This is a thing we don't 
think about enough. It is a silent force working in the 
world's destiny and should be made of much greater im- 
portance than it is. Our children, their manhood and 
womanhood, what shall they be? These are the most im- 
portant considerations that can engage our thoughts; liv- 
ing in the country I am quite as thankful as the city 
mother that it is such a good place to raise children. 
We are led to think this way because our leading men, 
who have occupied all the prominent positions of the na- 
tion, have emanated from the country, remote from the 
vices and weakening influences that prevail in large 
towns. Fashion, proud fashion, a stupid city product, re- 
duces young men and women to an uninteresting level. 
The cities of this countr>' have produced few great men. 
They have had generations, but how few of them ever 

368 



ABOUT FARMING 



made a mark. The city born children are never heard 
from only in the great conglomerate aggregate of the 
people. The cities have never developed the higher and 
more complete forms of manhood. How much of a man 
is due to inborn qualities and how much to education, 
philosophers have not yet told us, but it is safe always to 
require good weight and quality in the original package. 
We have not seen the sagacious intellect of a Lincoln, or 
the distinguished mind of a Webster emerge from the 
false glitter and noise of a dirty city. Think of Washing- 
ton among the stately oaks of Virginia, of Jefferson in 
his mountain home, of Adams on his farm, of Garfield in 
the country hovel, of Grant and his country childhood, 
and, while thus reflecting, bear in mind that not one of 
all the presidents originated in the city. These consider- 
ations are calculated to make us feel content in the coun- 
try. Now then, brother farmers, fix up your farms and 
be happy in the best homes of the world. 

THE farmer's dependence 

Out of what shall the farmer make his money? 
This may seem a singular question and yet, think the in- 
quiry again and answer as wisely as you can. This 
question is raised because many opportunities of income 
in his calling are neglected and many more are unsuc- 
cessfully pursued. The merchant makes his money out 
of traffic. The laborer out of his labor. The mechanic 
out of his trade. The lawyer out of his profession, and 
so on to the end of all, who through the various channels 
of effort are seeking the money of the earth. It may be 
regarded an answer to say the farmer may make his 
money out of farming; and while it is a general answer, 
yet it is not sufficiently definite to meet all the features 

369 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



of this interesting inquiry. Unlike other avocations the 
tiller of the soil can hardly rely upon his smartness for a 
livelihood, such an attainment might avail in some of the 
professions, but would undoubtedly prove unavailing in 
the farmer's life. We might then as well discuss the 
availabilities of the farmer's existence, financially speak- 
ing upon the actual as the speculative. There are sever- 
al ways by which the farmer can make money, all of 
which are simple, tedious and limited. He can run his 
whole farm as a specialty in some given direction or to 
general farming. The specialty may be a particular line 
of fancy stock, or raising grain or hay for sale only. 
General farming means a little of everything that relates 
to a farm. The practice of general farming must be the 
safest and in the long run no doubt is the most remuner- 
ative and yet beyond question has more of hardship in 
it. Every farm can have a little something of butter, fat 
stock, horses, wool, sheep or lambs, hogs or pigs and 
eggs to sell, if it is well managed and out of these vari- 
ous products, according to the size of the farm, a fair 
realization can be made. While such a farm can be ma- 
terially improved from year to year. Under such a 
course, in a little while the farm gains such a state of 
tilth and such resources of fertility, that a valuable bank- 
ing capital is constantly at hand. Such advantages prop- 
erly used in the farmer's hands become the strongest 
weapons against hard times and the surest means of suc- 
cess. On the other hand, imperfect tillage and paucity 
of soil enables him scarcely to gain a living and subjects 
him to hardships, the most tedious and laborious. Then 
let the answer be that the farmer should make his mon- 
ey from general farming and should avoid specialties. 
At the best the farmer's money comes slowly and its 
sources should be made as unfailing as possible. Gener- 

370 



ABOUT FARMING 



al farming, good tillage, and a fertile soil go hand in 
hand. In general farming there is strength and in such 
strength there is wealth. Under specialties there is little 
else than weakness and a general downhill tendency. 

Feed the crops on the farm, get your income from 
pork, beef, mutton, wool, colts, cows, butter, cheese and 
eggs, and you will see as never before, and realize more 
fully than you ever dreamed, an increasing fertility and 
profit from the broad acres of the farm. General farm- 
ing should be the rule, and special farming the exception. 

FARMERS TO THE RESCUE 

It is said rum will tell, and so it will, always a sad, 
wretched story. It tells a loud story too for we see in 
round numbers $900,000,000 are expended for liquor an- 
nually, and this sum is the interest for one year at six 
per cent on $15,000,000,000. The money paid for rum in 
two years would fully pay the government debt. If we 
should borrow the sum that $900,000,000 would pay the 
interest on annually and with it purchase homes for the 
millions who now Hve in poverty, what a great work of 
good it would be; and why not pay interest on a fifteen 
billion relief fund as well as to pay such an immense sum 
to create so much misery. A farm improved and equip- 
ped for use, costing $1000 is a nice, cozy home-like af- 
fair, and fifteen million such places could be secured with 
the principal sum that the rum drinkers pay the interest 
on each year. Such a relief fund would relieve nearly 
or quite all our suffering, needy population. Think of it 
a moment, but you won't, no one more than half thinks 
of this matter. If a full realizing sense of its importance 
could possess the good people of this world, rum would 
have to go, double quick, where Satan drove the swine. 
Of course, no such relief fund will be borrowed, no such 

371 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF .lOSIAH GROUT 



farm homes will be created, no such great good will be 
accomplished, but the $900,000,000 will still be spent in 
making paupers, filling the jails and prisons of the land, 
in making for men, women and children an existence 
worse than for neglected cattle. Innocent children will 
continue to be ruined morally, physically and intellect- 
ually. 

Instead of the fifteen million farm homes with fields 
of golden grain, bursting barns and bins, there will be 
emptiness in stomach and cupboard and infirmity in 
body. The music of mirth, joy and happiness will be su- 
perseded by the sighs and groans of wretchedness, mis- 
ery and want. This great march of death will still move 
on and an ocean of scalding tears will compass its course. 
This great wrong can, at least, be partially corrected. 
The women of the land are taking part in this business; 
but really there is no class that can do more to arrest 
this work of ruin, than the farmers. They constitute 
the most numerous voting class and if they will act uni- 
tedly can do more to advance the temperance cause than 
any other element in our society. 

JANUARY 

With this month begins not only another year of 
time for us all, but another year of care, trial, responsi- 
bility and duty. The years come and go and so does 
man, all to little or no purpose, unless our comings and 
goings are according to some plan or preconceived ar- 
rangement aggressive and progressive. 

The farmer, more than any of all who are occupied, 
is the busiest. If not, he has the best opportunity, in the 
full discharge of his calling to enjoy such a blessing. In 
occupation we find entertainment, and in entertainment, 
contentment, pleasure and happiness; which measure 

372 



ABOUT FARMING 



more fully than we are aware the objects of our earthly 
stay. Let us for a moment consider the duties and priv- 
ileges of the farmer in January. It is his duty to know 
carefully how the year just past has gone with him; it is 
also his duty to look with the best of care to whatever of 
animated dumbness may be living with him; and he 
should plan for the rest of the year, what he will do and 
how he will do it. In retrospecting the past year; its suc- 
cesses and failures will appear, the former as head and 
the latter as danger lights for the future; together they 
constitute the "lamp of experience" by which his year's 
work will be governed. By caring faithfully and patient- 
ly for his stock, at the time of all the year it needs the 
protection of good care the most, he makes sure his re- 
ward of profit at the time of sale; and in organizing the 
year's industry ahead he has something to work to, af- 
fording the advantage of system and order. In this way 
more can be accomplished and with greater ease than to 
go as it happens. Under a plan, you have the benefit of 
calculation, which is better than hard work. It is a good 
time during the long evenings of January, and it is as 
well the farmer's privilege, to read, visit, think, plan and 
resolve, to the end, that when the days grow longer, the 
sun gets higher, and the weather warmer, he can execute 
the plan, realize the thought, and keep the resolve. 

To the farmer January is the pleasantest, the happi- 
est and may be made the most profitable of all the 
months of the year. 

MAY 
Once more we cross the line between spring and sum- 
mer. The days of frost and chill that make and hold ice 
are rapidly giving way to days of warmth and growth. 
The seed-time of 1886 is at hand and with it the farmer's 
opportunity. 

373 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Unlike others the farmer has really but one main 
chance at the drift of affairs in twelve months. The law- 
yer, the doctor, the merchant and all such have main 
chances, as it happens, throughout the year; to say noth- 
ing of the lesser chances constantly paying tribute to 
their watchfulness. But the chances rewarding the till- 
er of the soil, seem under the plan of life, to be concen- 
trated in one, the main or only chance of his calling. 
Upon the improvement of this solitary chance depends 
the farmer's success; as he sows so shall he reap and as 
he reaps so shall he garner. The reaping and garnering de- 
pend upon the sowing, so you see the most important 
period of the year is now upon the farmer. He cannot 
afford to deal carelessly with it, as such carelessness will 
appear in season and out of season, constantly upbraid- 
ing his slothfulness. 

Remember this in the farmer's seed-time, the farm- 
er's opportunity, the farmer's main chance. The plant- 
ing and sowing of this chance should intelligently and 
carefully anticipate the living and feeding wants of ano- 
ther year. The work of this month should have an eye 
upon the needs of man and beast, house and barn, the 
coming year. Plant now for what of the brute kind you 
expect to keep next winter. Crop accordingly as you 
keep stock; cows, young cattle, colts and sheep all re- 
quire different kinds of feed to give them the most suit- 
able rations. You know what stock you will keep the 
coming winter, if you do not, make up your mind now 
and prepare for that stock a supply best suited to its 
want. But enough of this, for in free America, every- 
body is inclined to like their own way the best and farm- 
ers, especially, don't like to be told how to do things; so 
excuse us for suggesting the importance of this month's 
work, in the calculations and realizations of the next har- 

374 



ABOUT FARMING 



vest. We really intended no offence. We thought how 
pleasant it would be to have you think as we do for just 
a few sweet days only. To have you act today with ref- 
erence to the morrow. We thought how nice it would 
be to do the work of jolly, sunny May in anticipation of 
bleak, stormy December. Forewarned — forearmed. 
This we take to be a great month of the year. Its calcu- 
lations and doings are measurably for the rest of the 
year; since we can only cultivate, harvest and enjoy as 
we plant; cultivating and harvesting conjoin with God's 
favors in producing the yield. Think of it as you will, 
but do not neglect the opportunities of blooming, gentle 
May or you will regret your unmindfulness amid the 
freezing blasts of January. 

JUNE 

Now comes June, flying its flag of green over the 
face of all things. The meadows, pastures, yards and 
fields of grain are again fresh with the verdure of 
growth and beauty. No month of all the twelve is so 
freshJand fragrant as the last one of the first half. June 
has a gentle softness about it, manifest in the air, under- 
foot, over head and everywhere, that makes it truly wel- 
come. Into it Nature crowds much; and from it man 
takes much. The season of vegetable growth in Ver- 
mont is so brief that when fairly upon us, as is the case 
now, we anxiously watch its course with interest and ex- 
pectation. This is the time of cultivation, in which war 
against weeds is waged, care for the tender plants exer- 
cised, and the growth of everything urged by a training 
hand. 

Many of the fields of clover, red fragrance, may as 
well be gathered this month, so that a new crop will re- 
ward early cutting and lend nutritious satisfaction to the 

- 375 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



calves and cows next winter. Put all the growing crops 
in the best possible state of culture, and commence hay- 
ing in the most advanced fields of grass, and you have 
made a favorable disposition, as a prudent husbandman, 
of the first half of the year. In this truly beautiful 
month we are led to thoughts of the preeminence in beau- 
tiful attractiveness of this favored section over all other 
parts of the Union. There is no spot on earth that prop- 
erly commands such a deep, quiet love for its natural 
surroundings as Vermont. There is no spot where the 
hills wear such a gentle aspect, and the mountains such 
a modest grandeur, and valleys such full cut robes of 
peace and plenty, as the state where we live. Its rivers, 
its brooks and its forests are the deep, happy-tongued 
enunciators of attractions and charms found nowhere 
else on earth. Our improvements— the roads, the towns, 
the churches, the schools and the farms, are as well ad- 
vanced as similar conditions in other states, and as satis- 
factory as could be expected from the volume of emigra- 
tion and wealth that has gone forth from our midst. 
The stock, the horses, the cows, the cattle generally, the 
hogs, hens, and all such of ours, which stand in our affec- 
tion next to our children, are beyond, in excellence, the 
like in other parts of the country. In inventorying the 
effects and affairs of Vermont at the outset of this beau- 
tiful month, we have occasion to feel satisfied with what 
we have, proud of what we are in the estimation of oth- 
ers, and very hopeful in what the future, by proper ef- 
fort will unfold to us. Though equal to any and supe- 
rior to many states of the Union, in beauty of country, 
comforts and blessings of life, let us not rest on such hon- 
ors, but, thanking God for the strength of the past, take 
courage for the openings of the future. 



376 



ABOUT FARMING 



THINK ABOUT IT 

The farmer should be a constant student, studying 
the best way for all his doings and doing the best thing 
with all his studyings. Undertake nothing without a plan 
there is more in calculation than work. Plan ahead the 
year's routine, the season's requirements, the week's 
work, and the day's realities. At the outset of each year 
have in view generally what shall be done for the coming 
365 days. Determine the crops of each field, the manner 
of cultivation, the seed to be used, the work generally to 
be put in and the force requisite for its accomplishment. 
At the opening of each season, take bearings and see if 
the work belonging to the preceding one has been done, 
and fully provide for the one awaiting your attention. 
With the beginning of each week have a definite program 
for all its details, just what and how it shall be employed. 

Each and every night arrange the work of the com- 
ing day and each and every day perform conscientiously 
and faithfully according to arrangement. Thus study, 
calculate, plan, execute and it will fall out after a while 
that you are a good farmer, an honest man, a good neigh- 
bor and making money. Nothing succeeds without co- 
herence and nothing coheres without design, calculation, 
and adjustment. Nothing of consequence happens by 
chance, and it matters not how things destitute of im- 
portance, did come about. Then it would seem worth 
the farmer's while to studiously systematize all his expec- 
tations, plan all his doings, being consistent at all times, 
with his judgment and conclusions. Some may think 
they can't study up matters and reflect upon what they 
would do, for want of time, but doubtless a few weeks of 
well ordered work would make leisure in which to enjoy 
reflection out of which to evolve better things, that is, 

377 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



more satisfactory results with less hard toil. Be indus- 
trious but don't work so as to always feel fatigued, and 
so constantly as to have no time to think about it. Those 
in possession of the greatest fortunes and holding the 
sceptre of the world's power are not manual workers; 
they have studied upon it, designed it, planned it and 
then put in motion another set of designs, schemes and 
plans to operate the first set; and work out the fulfil- 
ment of their final purposes. Now, Mr. Farmer, think 
more and you can soon get along with less work, have 
more leisure, the proper improvement of which yields all 
the advantages of a higher, better, easier and more com- 
fortable life. Think about it and see if it is not so. 

ATTRACTIVE FARMS 

Western farms are noted for their broad acres, but 
as a rule, not for a thrifty, neat appearance. If dress is 
anything in case of a man, it is perhaps more in case of 
a farm. Cleanliness and neatness are godly traits, and 
as becoming on the face of nature as on the face of man. 
If New England has an acknowledged ascendency over 
the West, in any one respect more than another, it is in 
the tidy, comfortable, homelike appearance of its farms 
and farm buildings. There is, however, an opportunity 
for great improvement in these respects and as broad a 
field open to Vermont as any New England state. Slick 
up your farms, tidy up your buildings and yards; it will 
pay you richly in a large silent credit upon the ledger of 
respectability and neat living. Keep your fences up and 
the weeds down. Keep the hogs in the pen, the cattle in 
the pasture and everything about the premises in its 
place. Thus you will soon be a neat farmer and a neat 
farmer is a good farmer. 



378 



ABOUT FARMING 



Study to improve yourselves, your methods, your 
stock and generally'all you have to do with. 

Improvement, progress, thrift, independence, wealth 
and happiness all graduate in the same class. 

Everybody seems to be chasing after wealth feeling 
sure that to its possession all else will be speedily added; 
then Mr. Farmer show Mr. Everybody, the bewitching 
conditions of sure and certain accumulations in husban- 
dry and all will engage in husbanding the resources of 
agricultural possibilities. 

EXHAUSTING THE SOIL 

Nature, through the ages of barbarism, preceding 
the settlement of this country by the white man, util- 
ized the luxuriant growth of the vegetable world in its 
decay, in fertilizing the soil, and to an extent that seemed 
inexhaustible. This fertility was found in the East and 
measurably exhausted when its devastation was moved 
further west and has fairly reached the Pacific. The 
Eastern farmer at first thought it useless to regard fertil- 
izing but soon became convinced of its necessity. But, 
as the fact gradually got control of him, he moved west- 
ward to new regions, in pursuit of richer soil, and to 
avoid fertilizing the old, thinking at each move he had 
found it better, and again after a few years of shiftless 
soil robbing would move on again. So we see the profes- 
sional soil exhauster has been fleeing westward before 
the all-devouring shadow of his own mischievous exhaus- 
tion, and since he now faces the eastern boundary of the 
Pacific, it is hoped his foolish ravages are ended. 

Excepting the question of fertilizing the soil there is 
not very much difference between eastern and western 
farming. The average western farm is smoother and, 
generally speaking, easier to carry on; but with the same 

379 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



care and attention, eastern soil has shown an ability to 
produce equally as good crops as western. The western 
farmer has already come to consider it necessary to fer- 
tilize the soil, and many an Illinois farm has been aban- 
doned for more fertile soil further west. No bank, how- 
ever wealthy, can remain solvent by constantly paying 
out. It must have deposits or sooner or later it will fail. 
So it is with the soil; continually taking away something 
and returning nothing has but one conclusion, and that 
is poverty. The greatest desideratum of the American 
farmer today is better culture and more fertility. These 
are questions already as interesting in one section of the 
country as another. The hills and valleys of New Eng- 
land are as charmingly beautiful as any portion of our 
greatly diversified country. They are as fertile and pro- 
ductive as any of the far-famed west. For the time they 
may be more depleted, but comply with the terms of re- 
demption, to wit, better culture and more fertilizer, and 
we have the garden and the beauty of the world at our 
feet. Fertility and restoration, instead of impoverish- 
ment and plunder, should be the watchword of the com- 
ing farmer. 

WANTS AND NEEDS 

These terms sometimes confuse and the require- 
ments of life are indiscriminately regulated by them. 
There should be more necessity in a need than in a 
want. Need is fuller of destitution than want, hence our 
needs are more urgent than our wants. If we need a 
thing we want it; but we may want things that we hard- 
ly need. It is weil to discriminate in these respects, so 
that we will be more likely to get what we ought to have 
and leave alone what we ought not to have. A proper 
judgment in these matters is needed among the farmers 
more than with any other class. 

380 



ABOUT FARMING 



The farmer must calculate closer than most others, 
iDecause his means for securing what he thinks he needs 
are more limited; yet by care, industry and economy, 
iarmers can always have the necessaries of life. Every 
farmer should look himself over occasionally and make 
up a list of his needs and then as rapidly as possible sup- 
ply them, regulating the supply, of course, by the ability 
to provide. 

Farmers need good and suitable tools and machinery 
for doing the work on the farm and such a need should 
be met promptly, as it will be good economy to do so and 
a great saving of vital powers, which should be favored 
as much as possible in this age of hurry and bustle. 
Housewives need convenient utensils in and about the 
house for doing the house work to the best advantage, 
and every farmer's wife in the land should have such a 
need provided at once, even if it can be only poorly af- 
forded. At best and under the most favorable circum^ 
stances the lot of the farmer's wife is hard enough and 
it should be made as easy as possible without delay. 

The farms sometimes need things as well as the 
farmers. In fact often times the needs of the farm are 
the most apparent. The farm always needs good com- 
fortable buildings, a good supply of water and apart- 
ments in the buildings for different lines of stock. Every 
farm too needs a good orchard, a good garden, a good 
strawberry bed and so on to the end of what caters to 
taste and health, as well as to what gratifies the senses. 
Every farm too needs shade, good fences and things too 
numerous to mention, if they conduce to beauty and com- 
fort. Life will be better and happier by supplying all 
these and similar needs on the farm. 



.381 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSiAH GROUT 



THE farmer's life 

Just now, and perhaps more than ever before, there 
seems to be not a little talk about the farmer and his life. 
What this augurs for him and his calling it is difficult to 
anticipate. The power of the world lies in knowledge 
and wealth. What we mean by power is influence, polit- 
ically, commercially, religiously and financially. Know- 
ledge is the broader of these two agencies, occupymg the 
field of politics, commerce and religion, though not exclu- 
sively, yet to such an extent that its superiority is gener- 
ally conceded in these respects; still, time it as we may, 
the senses are always convinced of the conspicuous, com- 
manding presence of money in all that is done in this 
world. Knowledge plans, projects and devises, but a lit- 
tle cash always comes handy in carrying out and paying 
the bills. 

Evenly distributed knowledge has no especial influ- 
ence, but makes itself generally and genially felt 
throughout the community, as we see in case of a well 
educated people. Now and then significantly the power 
of knowledge shows itself in instances of marked individ- 
uals of rare gifts and talents. This kind of power is 
more to be feared and restrained and always ought to be 
watched. Evenly apportioned wealth, same as know- 
ledge, lends a salutary influence, and blesses the commu- 
nity so provided. It is only the instances of dispropor- 
tioned, unwieldy accumulations that occasion apprehen- 
sion and result in harm and wrong. Of course know- 
ledge and wealth, so far as instrumental in the accom- 
plishment of good are desirable acquisitions, but when 
secured for the sake of the influence they can wield, they 
become dangers and greatly to be feared. 

Notably the farmer, in his humble life, neither be- 
comes very wise nor very rich. He has not the leisure 

382 



ABOUT FARMING 



for the acquirement of wisdom to the harm of his fel- 
lows; nor has he the opportunity for storing away this 
world's goods to the detriment of those among whom he 
lives. Then the farmer, in his simple ways and methods, 
cannot be considered the occasion of very much wrong 
or oppression. He is, upon the whole, rather an inoffen- 
sive, harmless factor in the world. Unconsciously 
though and oftener than he knows he obeys the behest 
of the man who assumes the leadership and frequently 
pays tribute, at the expense of his own indigency, to the 
financial lords, when with a better understanding of his 
rights and duties, it might be otherwise. Commerce is 
enriched and wealth is amassed in operations upon what 
the farmer produces. Farther, and worse, politics as a 
rule are conducted, and laws are made, in the interest of 
commerce and other kinds of money making. It is gen- 
erally understood that there is not much money in farm- 
ing; that the farmer has a slow, hard road to wealth. 
This understanding is too correct. There are many 
ways by which money can be made easier and faster 
than at farming. In this then do we not see an inequal- 
ity, if not an injustice? The hardest worked man, in all 
the different branches of labor, really receives the least 
for his toil. To be sure, he is safe in a Hving, but the 
cream of his doings is taken by the scheming and the 
alert. This should be corrected in some way. We are 
not now saying how, but by some means or other a ref- 
ormation in this respect should be accomplished. A 
change in this and many other features of the farmer's 
life will soon show an improvement that we cannot say 
is not needed and will not be welcome, the country over. 
Education and money should be respected, but to accord 
them the lead in all things, is confessing a stupidity on 
the part of agricultural industry, more directly, the farm- 

383 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



ers, that they should promptly deny. If the farmers- 
will, they can make their lives more desirable, and have 
the ways of the world more to their liking. 

INTELLIGENCE AND ACCURACY IN FARMING: 

As we have often said and can always say beyond 
chance of contradiction, the farmer is the hardest work- 
ed man in the world. The mechanic has his hours of la 
bor and when he has toiled ten of them the whistle calls 
a rest and the other fourteen of the twenty-four are his 
for recreation and sleep. His day begins with seven and 
ends with six. Such an arrangement would be a vaca- 
tion or a holiday season and more suggestive of leisure 
and pleasure than the farmer actually knows from one 
century to another. Few farmers commence as late as> 
seven and quit as early as six. They are more likely to- 
be at it as early as five, continuing till six or later and 
then have all the chores to do, and frequently errands 
to town, or a sick cow or horse to doctor. The farmer 
has always enough to do, because he hardly ever has his 
work done, and being the proprietor of it, is liable to be 
more diligent for its completion than as though someone 
else owned it. Without being more particular as to 
facts and reasons, we will leave the statement to take 
care of itself, that the farmer works harder than all the 
rest. This should not be the case. While he should be 
busy and all the time occupied, as should everyone, he 
should have more leisure and ease of life. It is difficult, 
however, to realize these things in his behalf, for in their 
establishment he is his own master and however strange 
it may seem, man is not as kind, lenient and just with 
himself as with others. 

The whole matter is as the farmer says. He can 
rise above the slaving of his life as it now runs or he can 
follow darkly the course of his present ways. 

384 



ABOUT FARMING 



There is no pursuit that requires more sound judg- 
ment, practical good sense and varied experience, than 
farmmg. So many operations on the farm depend upon 
contingencies, that a definite rule cannot be followed. A 
practical turn of mind and a prompt adoption of all the 
shifting changes, so as to realize the most as they pass, 
must be the farmer's reliance. Agricultural papers are 
great instructors, and book farming is not to be despised, 
but in practicing theories taught in books and papers, 
modifications must be engrafted and the application 
must meet all the differences arising from soil, climate 
and other accompanying conditions of execution. Ac- 
curacy of thought, statement, estimate and action are 
greatly needed among farmers. They are not educated 
to care and punctiliousness in all they do as business men 
are. Most of them do not weigh and measure, so every- 
thing goes by guess. The farmer is not carefully accu- 
rate in much of anything. Few know how much they 
sow or plant without reckoning up and fewer know how 
much they produce yearly, and fewer still how much 
they sell their products for. To succeed the farmer 
must know what he is doing, how to do all his work, and 
which is the most profitable of all the many ways there 
are for pursuing his employment. His heart must go 
with his hand in the work. His whole interest must be 
enlisted and he must find happiness in his pursuits. If 
a farmer is out of sympathy with his work, he is soon 
out of pocket as well. Few who give an intelligent, un- 
divided service to agricultural undertakings fail, and yet 
to be successful in all respects, his life must be easy 
enough to be pleasant and to be pleasant it must be prof- 
itable. 



385 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



FARM EDUCATION 

Those expecting to be farmers ought to be educated 
for the calling that awaits them. There are various 
ways in the opinion of those who pretend to know by 
which this much desired culture can be acquired. Some 
are of the notion that agricultural colleges should be es- 
tablished for the purpose of disseminating a knowledge 
of the best methods of husbandry. Some think all the 
schooling given to the young should be calculated to im- 
part information more or less useful in this needy direc- 
tion. And last but not least, many there are who 
incline to the view that the farm is the place of all places 
for preparing the future farmer for his work. 

If any branch of education is suggestive of prac- 
tical impressions it certainly would seem to be that 
which relates to tilling the soil. Latin and Greek have 
but little to do with farming, and for that matter not 
much to do with any calling in these latter days. Then 
we can hardly consider the classics an essential to the 
proper make up of a good farmer. The science or a 
knowledge of farming is what the young farmer needs 
most at the onset. It will serve him better than money, 
and better than the science of astronomy, navigation, law, 
physics, war or peace. A knowledge of what a man is 
doing aids him more in the doing of it, than knowledge 
upon all other subjects combined. How often do we see 
men fall by the wayside of life's undertakings because 
they know so little of what they are undertaking. Such 
men know about other matters, but being ignorant of 
the way to accomplish the work they have espoused, they 
blunder, stumble, become laughing stock and fail. They 
are out of their element, in strange water, without the 



386 



ABOUT FARMING 



chart and compass so necessary to insure success and 
safety. The boy who expects to be a farmer should be 
practically informed in his business and every farmer 
who raises up boys to manhood should take pains to in- 
struct them in the way the farmer should go to be suc- 
cessful. Do not shut other kinds of knowledge out, let in 
all or as many of them as you can, they are all desirable 
and even necessary, but be sure, when you start in farm- 
ing, that you know as well as may be of your calling, or 
ridicule, failure and reproach will follow "in hot haste." 



387 



MRS. GROUT'S FAMILY 



In 1868, 1 married Harriet Hinman, a daughter of the 

late Aaron Hinman of Derby; and one child, Aaron Hin- 

,1 man Grout, blesses this union, which has continued very 

pleasantly fifty odd years, with may it be, happy years 

to come. 

Aaron Hinman was one of the prominent citizens of 
Derby, passing away in 1854, in the prime of life. He 
was a son of Benjamin Hinman, one of the settlers of 
Derby. Benjamin Hinman's life in Derby began one hun- 
dred and thirty years ago; and with other noble men of 
his kind, they made it one of the most substantial towns 
in Vermont. 

Aaron Hinman married Nancy Stewart, a daughter 
of Major Rufus Stewart, a soldier in the war of 1812, who 
was also one of the pioneers in the settlement of Derby. 
Indeed the history of that good old town would be incom- 
plete without the citizenship of the Hinmans, the Stew- 
arts and many other similar men who took part in found- 
ing it. 

Aaron and Nancy Stewart Hinman had four chil- 
m dren, Jane E., Harriet, Mary and Benjamin. 

Jane E. married Lewis H. Bisbee of Derby, a soldier 
in the Civil War and a lawyer. He practiced his profes- 
sion at Newport from 1863 to 1871, when he moved to 
Chicago, where he continued practicing law twenty-seven 
years, becoming one of the leading lawyers of that city. 
He deceased in 1898. 

388 



MRS. GROUT'S FAMILY 



He was a good counsellor, an astute, skillful trier of 
cases; and a power before the jury. 

They had two children, Harriet and Benjamin, who 
reside in Chicago. 

Mrs. Bisbee deceased in 1909. She was a woman of 
intelligence and attainments, standing high in life. She 
was the best of wives and mothers. 

Mary married Charles K. Bates, who was bom in 
Derby, a brother of the late Edwin Bates, with whom he 
was for many years associated in the mercantile business 
in New York City and until Edwin's death in 1887, after 
which, until his decease in 1898, he conducted the busi- 
ness alone. 

Their business was a success and they did many 
things to make Derby appreciate them. 

Mrs. Charles K. Bates deceased in 1917, kindly re- 
membering her native town in many pleasant ways. 
She was an interesting, pleasant woman. 

Benjamin married Helen Brown of Newport and for 
many years was a prominent business man of that city. 
He administered estates, was upon bank directorates and 
executed trust work generally. He was a good citizen, 
reliable in business and a kind neighbor. He deceased 
in 1915. 

Benjamin Hinman, Senior, had four children: Aaron, 
Harry, Mary and Ruth. Early in life Harry was a mer- 
chant at Derby Center, moving to Boston soon after the 
Civil War, where he conducted a mercantile business un- 
til his death. He had two children, both of whom have 
deceased. Ruth married Doctor Lemuel Richmond, a 
prominent physician practicing his profession at Derby 
Line where he deceased in 1874. They had two daugh- 
ters deceasing early in Ufe. Mary married Sanford 
Steele of Stanstead, P. Q., who deceased in 1854. They 

389 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



had four children, Judge Benjamin H. Steele, Judge Hi- 
ram R. Steele, Hon. Henry S. Steele and Mrs. Ex-Gover- 
nor Samuel E. Pingree. Judge Benjamin H. was one of 
the brightest lawyers I ever knew. He deceased in 
1873. Judge Hiram R. and the Hon. Henry S. are prom- 
inent lawyers in New York City. Both Ruth and Mary 
deceased years since. 

Major Rufus Stewart had six children: Harriet, Ma- 
ria, Nancy, Jane, Horace and Emera, 

Harriet married George Robinson; and they had 
three children; Lucius, George S. and Charles. 

Lucius was a prominent business man of Newport 
where he lived many years and died in 1882, 

George S. was a prominent lawyer at Sycamore, 111. 
where he deceased several years since. 

Charles, a bright young man, died early in life. 

Maria married Jacob Bates; and they had four chil- 
dren; Edwin, Charles K., Jane and Nancy. Edwin and 
Charles K. have been mentioned; and Jane and Nancy 
deceased young. 

Jane married Martin Newcomb; and they had two 
children, George and Laura. George died in the service 
during the Civil War; and Laura deceased young. 

Horace married Katharine Hinman; and they had 
four children; Martha, Rufus, Hoel and Harriet. Hoel 
and Harriet deceased early in life. Martha married 
Carlos Haskell and they had one child. Col. H. S. Has- 
kell, who resides at Derby Line, Vermont. Rufus mar- 
ried Annie Brown and they had one child, Harry Stew- 
art, who lives at Beebe, P. Q. 

Emera married Julia Daggett and they had two chil- 
dren, Clara and Martha. Clara married Eber C. Robin- 

390 



MRS. GROUTS FAMILY 



son and they had one child, Belle, who deceased early in 
life. Mrs. Robinson resides at Newport. Martha mar- 
ried Doctor C. F. Branch; and they both deceased sever- 
al years ago. 

All of Major Stewart's children and their affinities 
deceased several years since. 

After boarding around a year or two we decided up- 
on a home and home life. Accordingly in 1871, on the 
site of the Colodny Block, Main Street, Newport City, 
we opened a home of simplicity, comfort and hospitality; 
and wherever our lot has been cast, whether East or 
West, we have endeavored to maintain these cardinal 
features of home enjoyment. 

Our home has been in Newport, the West and Derby. 

I have always been actively interested in Derby 
Academy, having been president of its board of trustees 
thirty odd years; and have taken active part in raising 
funds for the school; turning in from time to time 
around $40,000. 

In 1908, Aaron H. Grout married Edith Hart of Bos- 
ton, an interesting woman; and they have two little girl 
children of whom we think very much. Their names 
are Eleanor H. and Nancy S. 



391 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



Partial illustrations of Mrs. Grout's family appear 
on the following pages; also of her own fam- 
ily and of Aaron's family; and also a partial 
Scene of the Clydeside Home at Derby. 

GRANDPARENTS 

No. 1 Benjamin Hinman 
" 2 Lydia Deane Hinman 
" 3 Major Rufus Stewart 

HER parents' family 

" 4 Aaron Hinman 

" 5 Nancy Stewart Hinman 

" 6 Benjamin Hinman 

" 7 Jane, Harriet and Mary 

HER OWN FAMILY 

" 8 Josiah Grout 

" 9 Harriet Hinman Grout 

" 10 Aaron Hinman Grout 

AARON'S FAMILY 

" 1 Aaron Hinman Grout 

" 2 Edith Hart Grout 

" 3 Eleanor H. Grout 

" 4 Nancy S. Grout 



The Clydeside Scene 



392 



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ADDITIONAL OF JOSIAH GROUT'S FAMILY 

A partial account of Josiah and Sophronia Ayer 
Grout's family, additional to other mentionings. 

Helen M. married Martin Perkins and they had two 
children, Martin and Helen. Martin deceased recently, 
Helen lives at Laconia N. H. 

George W. married Laurestine Ford, and they had 
four children, Pauline, Barton, Inez and Mary. The 
girls have deceased. Barton lives at Derby. 

Sophronia E. married George O. Ford, a captain in 
the 8th Vermont Regiment Civil War, and they had one 
child, L. W., who resides at St. Johnsbury. 

Mary M. married Charles H. Dwinell, and they had 
two children, Chas. H. and William G., who live at Prov- 
idence, R. I. 

Victoria N. never married. 

Theophilus married Ellen A. Black, and they had 
two chidren, Charles T. and Addie Lou, who are living; 
Charles T. in Fitchburg, Mass., and Addie Lou in 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Susan married F. W. Baldwin, and they had one 
child, Edward G., who is living. 

James never married. 

George W., Sophronia E., Victoria N., Susan and 
James, besides those otherwise mentioned, have de- 
ceased. Josiah, Mary M. and Theophilus are the only 
survivors of the family. 



393 



AFTERWORD 

If the reader has perused any considerable portion 
of this book slight faulty proof reading may have occa- 
sionally disturbed; but I trust no such error has been 
sufficient to confuse or obscure the intended meaning. 
An occasional letter changed or transposed and occasion- 
al words transposed would correct such error. 

In this as in all the affairs of life, it has not been al- 
together easy to keep track of all the "devil's" doings. 

The foreword of a book tells what is to come. An 
afterword tells what has not come. Therefore to supply 
an omission, I here give place to a record, condensed 
from page 145 of this book. 

COMPARATIVE RECORD 

Senator Morrill worked into law 80 bills in 44 years. 

Senator Edmunds, 73 in 25 years. 

Congressman Grout, 79 in 16 years. (This does not 

include the last two years of his service.) 
Morrill, less than 2 per year. 
Edmunds, less than 3 per year. 
Grout, less than 5 per year 



394 



MOTHERS OF MEN 

I have not said enough in the foregoing pages about 
the mothers of men. They are indeed the greatest. 

They are those who brave the world's dangers, en- 
dure the world's hardships and sacrifices for the lives of 
the men and women who have made the world what it 
is; and will make the world what it will be. 

In honor and memory of those noble souls who 
have and do bravely achieve the "Great Adventure," I 
offer the following: 

"Go kneel at the shrine of the Soldier unbeaten! 
Go scatter your bloom at the conqueror's feet! 
I sing of the other— the conqueror's mother! 
I sing of the cradle-song, trembling and sweet! 
And if. as the Titan stole fire from heaven, 
I might for a time steal a heavenly pen, 
I'd dip it in glory and write the full story— 
The wonderful song of The Mothers of Men!" 



395 



DISSOLVING VIEWS 

I have spoken of dissolving home views; and now 
would refer to the dissolution of a larger, though not 
dearer, life view. 

In a limited way I have known people, as friends, 
neighbors and acquaintances, in the different walks and 
ways I have travelled; and it is to this life circle, this 
life association that I now allude. 

It touches tenderly to realize that a very small per- 
centage of the kin, friends, neighbors and acquaintances 
among whom I started life remain. 

In public life I have had the honor and the pleasure 
of an acquaintance with the governors of Vermont, in- 
cluding Erastus Fairbanks; the United States Senators, 
including Foot and Collamer; the Members of Congress, 
including E. P. Walton, Justin S. Morrill and Portus 
Baxter; all the Members and Senators of seven legisla- 
tures; all the State officers since 1872; a large number 
of business men; a large number of preachers and edu- 
cators; all our Supreme and Superior Court Judges since 
Judge Poland's time, and nearly all the lawyers since 
1865; and besides so many Vermonters, I have had the 
honor to meet of our Presidents: Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, 
Hayes, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley and Roosevelt; also 
I have met in Illinois many illustrious, interesting men 
in public and business life; and from 1896 to 1898 I met 
more than one-half the governors of all the States. 

This constitutes an interesting galaxy of friends 
and acquaintances; a dear fellowship of noble men and 

396 



DISSOLVING VIEWS 



noble women. It covers a period of more than sixty 
gliding years; the earlier of which are nearest and dear- 
est. Of those in the arena the first half of this period 
there are but few; and all are, one by one, dissolving 
partnership with life's concerns; and so the sand in the 
hour glass soon will have run; but it is only that other 
sand may keep the glass ever and always busy. 

Life's journey at the onset is a far call, but distance 
soon minimizes, and around eight decades, appears at 
the minimum. 

To describe the dissolution of this "life view" more 
accurately than words of mine can, I ask you to read 
the following lines by William Knox: 

So the multitude goes, like the flower or the weed. 

That withers away, to let others succeed; 

So the multitude comes, even those we behold. 

To repeat every tale that has often been told. 

For we are the same our fathers have been; 

We see the same sights our fathers have seen. 

We drink the same stream, we see the same sun. 

And run the same course that our fathers have run. 

The thoughts we are thinking our fathers did think; 

From the death we are shrinking our fathers did shrink: 

To the life we are clinging, our fathers did cling; 

But it speeds from us all like the bird on the wing. 



Thus endeth this book. 



397 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAOK 

Foreword 5 

Century Poem 6-7 

Grout Centennial 8 

Address of Welcome at the Grout Centennial 9-14 

Grandmother's Battle with the Rats 11 

Grout Genealogy 15-31 

The Willards 29 

Aycr Genealogy 32-25 

Remarks 36-37 

Our Homes 38-46 

WILLIAM W. GROUT 

From Boy to Man 47-55 

His Eighteen Years in Congress 56-138 

HIS CONGRESSIONAL WORK SUBDIVIDED 

Foreword 56 

A Candidate for Congress 57 

The 47th Congress 58-60 

•' 48th " 60 

" 49th " 60-78 

•' 50th •* 78-86 

" Slst •• 86-88 

" 52nd " 88-100 

"53rd " 101-.102 

"54 th •• 102-110 

"55th " 110-116 

"56th " 116-138 

HIS SPEECHES IN CONGRESS 

Cabinet OfKce for Agricultural Industry 59-60 

American Shipping 60 

Fitz-John Porter 62-74 

Oleomargarine 74-77 

Experiment Station 77-78 

398 



TABLE OK CONTENTS 



Election of Postmasters 79-80 

Vermont and Kentucky 80-86 

Sibley Tent Claim 91-93 

Pension Bureau 94-96 

Protective TariflF 96-100 

Coina)!e Redemption 103-105 

Pacific Railroads 105-109 

Cuban Question 1I3-114 

Homesteads 114-115 

Seating of Brigham H. Roberts 1 17-125 

Justin S. Morrill Memorial 126-138 

MISCELLANEOUS OF GENERAL GROUT 

A Boomerang 139-150 

Candidate for the Senate 152-154 

Death of General Grout 152-154 

Expressions of Esteem 155-163 

Concluding Word and Comparison 164-168 

Comparative Record 394 

General Grout's Farming 169 

His Chicago Address 170-192 

Age of W. W. Grout (See his illustration) 

His Honorary Degrees " 

JOSIAH GROUT 

Josiah Grout, from 7 to the Civil War 195-205 

The Civil War 206-217 

His Part in the Civil War 218-241 

His Business Life 242-247 

His Political Life 248 

HIS POLITICAL LIFE SUBDIVIDED 

He Sought the Governorship 249-252 

The Nominating Convention 249-252 

Speech Accepting his Nomination 252--254 

Speech at Burlington Opening the Campaign of 1896 254"265 

His Incoming Message 266-286 

Remarks 287-288 

His Outgoing Message 288-320 

Extra Session. Proclamation and Message 321-324 

The Proclamations of his Administration 325-328 

Speeches He Made upon Occasions 329-358 

399 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSIAH GROUT 



HIS SPEECHES SUBDIVIDED 

The Speech of all the Speeches 329-331 

Speech to the Vt. Rgt. on its Departure for the Front 332-333 

Speech to the Reg't on its Return from the Front 324-325 

Speech at the Dedication of the Haskell Library 336-338 

Speech at the Banquet of the Officers' Reunion Society, 1896.339-340 

Remarks at Barrc, 1896, Introducing Gen'l. Gordon 341 

Speech Concerning Bennington Battle Monument 342-344 

Speech in Boston before Vermont Veterans 245-249 

Speech in Boston before Sons of Vermont 349-353 

Speech at Banquet of N. E. Governors, Boston 354-355 

Speech Welcoming Return of World War Soldiers 358 

An Office I Did Not Get 359-360 

My First Convention, George F.Edmunds and Justin S. Morrill. 361-364 

Farm Articles 365-376 

Mrs. Grout's Family 388-391 

Aaron Grout's Family 391 

Supplemental of Josiah Grout's Family . 393 

Afterword 394 

Age of Josiah Grout (Sec his illustration) 

His Honorary Degrees 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

BETWEEN PAGES 

Grout Coat of Arms 2 

William W. Grout 4 

Grand Parents, Parents, & Children of Josiah Grout's Family. 46- 47 

General Grout's Family 52- 53 

General Grout's Barton Home 52- 53 

General Grout's Farm Home 168-169 

General Grout's Temperance Party 168-169 

Josiah Grout 193 

Miskcl Farm Fight 240-241 

Grand Parents, Parents & Children of Mrs. Grout's Family. .392-393 

Joiiah Grout's Family 392-393 

Aaron H. Grout's Family 392-393 

Clydeside Home 392-393 

400 



INDEX 

FOR ANY SUBJECT SEE TABLE OF CONTENTS 

For the name Grout, except W. W. and Josiah; and 
the name Ayer, see Grout Centennial Address, Grout and 
Ayer Genealogies and partial account Josiah Grout's 
family, pages 8-37-393. For the names Hinman, Stewart, 
Steele, Robinson, Newcomb, Bates, Richmond, Daggett, 
Branch, Bisbee, A. H. Grout and Hart, see pages 
388--391. 







PAGE 




PAGR 


Allen, Ethan 


201 




Courts. Mr. 


147 


Bartlctt, Henry S. 


25 




Collamer, Jacob 


361 


Bartlett. Thomas 


50 


-361 


Colfax, Schuyler 


243 


Barlow. Bradley 


57 




Crawford, General 


229 


Bartlett, Amasa 


221 




Crane. W. D. 


243 


Banks, N. P. 


223 




Dale, George N. 


52-182 


Baxter, Portus 


361 




Davis, Jefferson 


212 


Beecher, Henry Ward 


202 




Dewey, George 


111 


Bean, Capt. 


233 




Dillingham Paul 


361 


Bellows. John 


21 




Drew, Jerry 


50 


Brown. O. T. 


49 


242 


Edmunds, Geo. F. 


361 


Brown, John 


211 




Edwards, J. L. 


243 


Brooks. Preston S. 


213 




Esty, Deacon 


54 


Buchanan. President 


206- 


217 


Fairbanks, Erastus 


202-3S1 


Bunker. C. A. 


293 




Fairbanks, Horace 


54 


Cahoon. Daniel 


9 




Fairbanks, Edward 


154 


Cahoon, Edward A. 


25 




Flint, H. C. 


221-232 


Captive, Elizabeth 


30 




Foot, Solomon 


362 


Chapin. E. H. 


203 




Garfield, J. A. 


248 


Colby. Professor 


49 




Gerry, Elbridgc 


21 


Colby. S. B. 


52- 


361 


Giles, Benjamin 


21 


Coolidge. L. A. 


141 




Graves, C. H. 


9 



401 





INDEX 




Hall, A. A. 


282 


Pierce, F. W. 


293 


Hard. Ray 


361 


Peck, Gov. 


54 


Hatch. General 


229 


Porter, Fitz John 


62 


Hale. J. P. 


214 


Powers. H. H. 


248 


Halleck, H. W. 


67 


Pope, General 


230 


Hale, Nathan 


24 


Poland, L. P. 


262 


(same page. Hall should be Hale) 


Proctor, Redfield 


54 


Haywood. Wm. 


22 


Prouty, C. A. 


54 


Hill. Hiram 


50 


Sanderson, Henry 


20 


Howard. W. E. 


293 


Sayers, Governor 


110 


Holliday. Col. 


224 


Sawyer, E. B. 


221 


Holbrook. Frederick 


240 


Simpson, Jerry 


89 


Hunt, Samuel 


21 


Shields, General 


227 


Hoffman. E. H. 


9 


Siegel, General 


227 


Jackson. General 


227 


Stevens, Samuel 


22 


Jocelyn, S. P. 


303 


Stewart, Governor 


87-361 


Kimball, Geo. 


30 


Stone, Governor 


110 


Lincoln, Abraham 


28-216 


Stone, M. S. 


293 


Lee, Robert E. 


228 


Smith. J. G. 


361 


Logan, John A. 


243 


Steele. B. H. 


243-361 


Lovejoy. Elijah P. 


207 


Stickney. W. W. 


249 


Lovejoy, Owen 


208 


Stark, General 


126 


McGregor, Daniel 


13- 43 


Sumner, Chas. 


213 


McClellan, Geo. B. 


223 


Swan, Miss Ruth 


129 


McDowell, General 


226 


Smith, Lorraine M. 


52 


Morrill, J. S. 126 


-266-361 


Tompkins, C. H. 


224 


Morrill, Calvin 


361 


Tutherly. H. E. 


303 


Mosby, J. S. 


235 


Underwood, Levi 


361 


Norton, L. S. 


293 


Walker, Abel 


22 


Nicholson, D. E. 


361 


Wetherby. Ephriam 


30 


Oglesby, Richard 


243 


Winthrop, Governor 


17 


Page, Phineas 


9 


Willard, Simon 


30 


Parker, I. A. 


49 


Willard, Moses 


30 


Parker, Theodore 


203 


Webster Daniel 


199 


Page, J. A. 


361 


Woodbury, C. A. 


233 


Perkins, Capt. 
Perry, G. W. 
Perkins, G. H. 


231 
301 
301 


Woodbridge, F. E. 
Willard, C. W. 
Wilson, H. C. 
Wyndham, Col. 


361 
361 
243 

232 



402 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 700 271 1 




